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THE 

DRAMATIC   INSTINCT 

IN   EDUCATION 

BY 
ELNORA  WHITMAN  CURTIS,  Ph.D. 

WITH  A  FOREWORD  BY 

G.  STANLEY  HALL,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 


i|:a^^ibfmcfT^rfgij 


BOSTON    NEW  YORK    CHICAGO 

HOUGHTON    MIFFLIN    COMPANY 


COPYRXGHT,    1914,    BY   ELNORA  WHITMAN   CURTIS 
ALL    RIGHTS   RESERVED 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U   .    S   .    A 


TO  MY  PARENTS 


ii 


PREFACE 

A  SMALL  portion  of  this  book  was  first  given  to 
the  pubHc  as  a  tentative  study,  under  the  same 
title,  published  in  the  Pedagogical  Seminary  (1908, 
vol.  XV,  pp.  299-346). 

Many  of  the  subjects  treated  under  the  chap- 
ter headings  were  then  far  less  in  the  public  eye. 
Six  years  ago  only  the  first  of  the  playground 
congresses  had  been  held;  story-tellers'  leagues 
and  clubs  in  town  and  city  were  exceptions 
rather  than  the  rule;  dancing  was  utilized  far 
less  than  at  present,  in  schools  and  other  institu- 
tions; and  pageantry,  in  its  modern  form,  was 
not  yet  introduced  into  this  country.  Also,  con- 
ditions affecting  public  amusements  were  less 
subject  to  scientific  investigation.  The  delay 
in  publishing  has,  howevdi",  had  its  advantages. 
The  subjects  have  now  become  matters  of  popu- 
lar knowledge  and  interest. 

An  effort  has  been  made  to  present  the  dif- 
ferent phases  in  which  dramatic  instinct  finds 
outlet,  and  to  unify  the  many  ordinary  forms, 
perhaps  unrecognized  until  brought  into  psy- 


PREFACE 

chological  relation  with  those  more  commonly 
understood  as  its  expression. 

The  book  is  a  plea  for  the  intelligent  compre- 
hension and  immediate  application  of  principles; 
the  purpose  is  to  stimulate  by  suggestion  here 
and  there,  rather  than  to  give  formal  rules.  The 
author  hopes  that  it  may  prove  of  use  and  inter- 
est to  teachers,  giving  them  greater  insight  into 
the  needs  of  pupils  and  the  value  of  uncurric- 
ularized  forms  in  which  such  needs  may  find 
expression;  also  that  it  will  appeal  to  persons 
interested  in  social  betterment. 

Thanks  are  due  to  school  principals,  teachers, 
library  assistants,  and  others  too  numerous  to 
mention  individually,  who  have  rendered  kindly 
assistance  during  the  course  of  the  work;  but 
to  the  late  Mr.  Walter  Small,  Superintendent 
of  Schools  in  Providence;  the  late  Herr  Direktor 
Ferdinand  Klleinwachter,  Berlin;  Dr.  D.  P.  Mac- 
Millan,  Director  of  the  Psychological  Labora- 
tory of  the  Chicago  public  schools;  and  Dr.  Louis 
N.  Wilson,  Librarian  of  Clark  University,  special 
acknowledgment  is  due.  To  the  late  Dr.  Theo- 
date  L.  Smith,  of  Clark  University,  I  am  deeply 
indebted  for  much  kindly  assistance;  and  in  the 
final  preparation  for  the  press,  to  Miss  Czarnom- 
ska,  my  former  professor  at  Smith  College.     To 

vi 


PREFACE 

President  Hall  I  wish  especially  to  express  my 
gratitude  for  his  unfailing  interest  and  encour- 

"2'"'°'-  E.  W.  C. 

Clark  University 


CONTENTS 

Foreword.  By  G.  Stanley  Hall xi 

I.  Introductory i 

II.  The  Theater-going  of  Children     ...  5 

III.  Psychological  Aspects  of  Dramatic  En- 

tertainment      25 

IV.  Dramatiq^Work  in  Schools  and  Colleges      38 
V.  Constructive  Efforts  to  Provide  Good 

Drama 60 

VI.  Play 91 

VII.  Dancing no 

1/    VIII.  Story-telling 135 

J      IX.  Moving  Pictures 153 

X.  Marionette  or  Puppet  Play 176 

/       XI.  Pageantry 196 

XII.  General  Summary  and  Conclusions    .    .217 

Bibliography 225 

Index 241 


FOREWORD 

The  dramatic  instinct  has  innumerable  outcrops 
in  childhood  and  youth,  and  the  present  seems 
to  be  the  psychological  moment  for  its  apprecia- 
tion and  also  for  its  utilization  in  education. 
What  is  it?  More  generically  it  is  the  propensity 
to  express  the  larger  life  of  the  race  in  the  indi- 
vidual, and  more  specifically,  to  act  out  or  to 
see  acted  out  the  most  manifold  traits  of  our  com- 
mon humanity.  Thus  no  agency  of  culture  is 
more  truly  or  purely  humanistic.  The  child  is 
vastly  older  than  the  adult  and  also  more  generic 
and  a  better  representative  of  the  species,  and 
growth  and  progressive  individuation  at  best 
mean  the  specialization  of  some  but  the  repres- 
sion of  other  and  more  racial  traits.  Children  and 
youth,  feeling  unconsciously  the  ^'shades  of  the 
prison  house"  closing  in  upon  them,  often  ask, 
"Why  am  I  just  I?"  and  often  feel  and  say,  "It 
is  tedious  and  monotonous  to  be  just  myself," 
"Why  must  I  always  and  forever  be  just  Johnny 
Jones?"  And  so  in  their  sportive  moments  they 
fancy  themselves  other  real  or  imaginary  persons 

xi 


FOREWORD 

or  perhaps  animals  to  supplement  their  own 
narrow  limitations  of  time,  place,  duration,  and 
occupation.  In  the  kindergarten  they  fl^^like 
birds,  hop  like  frogs,  go  on  all  fours  like  quad- 
rupeds, and  mimic  perhaps  every  creature,  per- 
son, and  vocation  they  know,  and  thus  find  en- 
largement and  relief.  The  animal  epos  in  the 
Middle  Ages  appeals  to  this  stage  of  growth,  for 
to  the  child  animals  are  the  embodiments  of 
human  traits.  The  fox,  lion,  snake,  wolf,  eagle, 
peacock,  bear,  goose,  pig,  raven,  and  many  more 
are  made  the  embodiments  of  single  human 
qualities  isolated  and  writ  large;  and  in  this 
primary  stage  of  psychology  to  know  is  to  get 
away  from  self,  and  to  be  and  to  act  out  other 
types  of  individuality.  Here,  too,  are  taught  the 
first  lessons  of  practical  morality  in  terms  of  the 
life  and  characteristics  of  man's  older  animal 
brethren. 

Then  comes  the  stage  of  getting  into  rapport 
with  traits  embodied  in  extreme  if  often  cari- 
catured forms  of  human  impersonation.  In  this 
repertory  are  the  sot,  who  is  always  and  only 
drunkenness  embodied;  the  miser,  who  does 
nothing  but  hoard  and  count  his  gold;  and  so 
the  hypocrite,  coward,  hero,  wooer,  saint,  martyr, 
spendthrift,  boor,   fool,   rowdy,   slattern,   prig, 

xii 


FOREWORD 

bulldozer,  braggart,  bookworm,  ne'er-do-well, 
and  all  the  vast  and  varied  partial  components 
of  human  nature,  the  one-quality  personages, 
illustrating  the  elements  that  enter  in  our  poly- 
morphic nature  which  children  so  keenly  appre- 
ciate and  which  exist  in  all  the  myth,  romance, 
story,  drama,  and  which  are  themselves  truer 
to  life  than  life  itself  because  factors  are  dissected 
out  or  shown  in  the  most  unrepressed  form.  It 
is  the  stage  that  in  this  way,  perhaps  best  of  all, 
holds  up  the  mirror  to  nature  and  helps  the  \ 
child's  growing  self-knowledge,  and  thus  moral  k 
and  social  philosophy  are  dramatized. 

The  dramatic  instinct  in  children,  so  long 
ignored,  is  just  beginning  to  reveal  its  poten- 
tialities. It  makes  for  widened  sympathies,  in- 
creased power  of  appreciation,  keeps  the  sutures 
of  the  soul  from  closing  prematurely,  and  so 
augments  docility  and  prolongs  its  nascent 
period.  We  have  here  great  possibilities  of 
psychic  and  moral  orthopedics.  If  a  dirty  child 
is  set  to  act  the  part  of  a  fastidiously  clean  one, 
a  rowdy  that  of  a  gentleman,  etc.,  this  sets  up 
compensating  and  corrective  agencies,  as  the 
records  of  the  Children's  Educational  Theater 
abundantly  show.  On  the  other  hand  if  a  child 
acts  the  bad  part,  this  may  start  the  higher 

xiii 


FOREWORD 

cathartic  activities  by  releasing  the  next  superior 
power  that  represses  the  bad  inclination.    This 
may  occur  when  a  child  has  to  assume  a  role 
that  brings  out  only  a  little  more  emphatically 
its  own  predominant  faults  instead  of  their  op- 
posites.  Which  of  these  methods  is  most  effective 
is  one  of  individual  diathesis.   All  the  effects  of 
acting  are  brought  out,  if  to  a  less  extent,  by 
seeing  plays.    Again,  the  more  we  know  of  the 
child  soul,  the  clearer  it  is  that  for  it  doing  is  a 
better  organ  of  knowing  than  is  merely  intellec- 
tual learning. 
-.  V^  Rousseau  first,  and  more  emphatically  and 
^Y  i^  f3.r  greater  detail  child   study  later,   have 
brought  us  a  progressive  realization  that  repres- 
sion is  the  tragedy  of  childhood,  and  that  its 
spontaneities  are  its  salvation.    Sedentary  book 
work  is  the  most  unnatural  and  yet  the  most 
extensive  constraint  ever  inflicted  upon  the  ris- 
ing generation,  and  is  now  happily  yielding  to 
better   methods.    Play,    dancing,    story  -  telling 
and  hearing,  the  moving  picture  and  pageantry 
and  the  theater  are  perhaps  nearer  to  the  inmost 
nature  of  children  than  anything  else;  and  the 
clear,   up-to-date,   temperate  presentation  of 
these  themes  contained  in  this  book  should  be 
known  to  every  intelligent  parent  and  teacl 

xiv 


FOREWORD 

It  ought  to  be  on  the  lists  of  every  reading-circle, 
for  it  cannot  be  too  emphatically  said  that  this 
is  the  psychological  moment  for  just  these  things, 
and  every  one  of  them  has  a  future  far  greater 
than  its  past  would  suggest.  Pedagogical  danc- 
ing cadences  the  very  soul  and  gives  poise,  con- 
trol, freedom,  and  is  far  and  away  the  best  form 
of  bodily  culture.  It  exhilarates,  can  represent  at 
least  symboHcally  about  every  activity  of  all  that 
lives,  in  a  way  genetic  psychology  is  just  beginning 
to  realize.  Play  recapitulates  the  most  essential 
characteristics  of  all  our  human  forebears  and  . 
also  anticipates  nearly  every  active  occupation  ' 
of  man.  Story-telUng  is  the  original  form  of  all 
education  and  has  transmitted  all  that  we  call 
the  traditions  of  mankind.  Nothing  else  so  knits 
up  all  the  component  elements  of  the  soul  into 
a  unity,  and  is  so  effective  against  dissociation 
or  disintegration  later,  which  is  the  chief  form 
of  psychic  decay,  all  the  way  from  puberty  on, 
because  the  focalization  of  so  many  acts  and 
persons  contributes  toward  the  one  denouement. 
The  power  to  use  this  charm  is  perhaps  the  very 
best  single  test  of  the  teacher,  born  or  made, 
that  could  be  devised,  while  the  possibilities  of 
the  moving  picture  appear  to  mark  an  educa- 
tional epoch  of  hardly  less  significance  than  the 

XV 


FOREWORD 

invention  of  printing  itself.  Pageantry  best 
unites  the  old  and  young  and  all  social  classes, 
revives  interest  in  history,  creates  local  pride, 
breaks  down  prejudice,  and  gives  a  community 
both  self-knowledge  and  self-respect.  The  Chil- 
dren's Theater,  as  begun  by  Mrs.  Herts  Heniger, 
conducted  solely  for  the  education  of  the  chil- 
dren themselves,  with  every  professional  influ- 
ence excluded,  which  is  such  an  effective  school 
of  morality;  the  Schiller  Theater,  in  which  all 
the  school  children  in  a  great  city  who  have  ob- 
tained a  certain,  not  too  high  mark,  in  the  school 
study  of  plays,  ancient  and  modern,  can  see  and 
hear  them  performed  by  the  best  actors  in  a  muni- 
cipal theater;  the  Cooper  Union  plan,  by  which 
some  scores  of  thousands  of  subscribers  can 
attend  at  half  price  plays,  if  only  approved  by 
institute  censors,  and  which  has  thus  made  the 
success  of  not  a  few  good  and  suppressed 
some  bad  plays;  the  almost  pathetic  enthu- 
siasm with  which  the  Morris  dances  were  lately 
revived  in  England  because  they  teach  and 
vitalize  the  past  in  much  the  same  way  that  the 
arts  and  crafts  movement  inaugurated  by  Wil- 
liam Morris  and  Ruskin  did;  the  remarkable 
playground  movement,  that  has  perhaps  brought 
more  of  the  joy  of  living  and  indirectly  helped 

XV  i 


FOREWORD 

the  morals  and  health  of  the  children  in  the 
country  at  large  more  than  any  other  one  move- 
ment; and  the  motion  picture,  that  has  brought 
more  recreation  to  more  people  than  anything 
else  in  our  generation,  and  on  the  whole  with 
ethical  uplift  and  with  a  great  wealth  of  infor- 
mation —  these  are  the  focal  themes  of  this 
book. 

With  our  nearly  half  a  million  teachers,  and 
nearly  half  a  billion  dollars  annually  expended 
for  education,  and  with  enough  pupils  of  school 
age  to  make  a  continuous  row,  allowing  each 
only  a  foot,  from  the  northeast  corner  of  Maine 
across  to  the  southwest  corner  of  California,  it 
would  be  strange  if  the  new  extension  of  educa- 
tional ideas  and  methods  herein  contained 
should  not  contribute  something  for  the  im- 
provement of  this  greatest  system  of  education 
the  world  has  ever  seen. 

The  writer  of  this  book  is  competent  and  has 
spared  no  pains  or  expense  to  be  authentic.  She 
has  been  abroad  repeatedly  and  has  seen  nearly 
every  institution  and  most  of  the  leaders  who 
conduct  them,  personally,  in  quest  of  her  ma- 
terial; but  even  were  she  less  competent,  the 
theme  itself  ought  to  make  her  book  in  a  sense 
almost   privileged.     I   wish    I    had   written   it 

xvii 


FOREWORD 

myself,  and  I  shall  watch  its  reception  with 
peculiar  solicitude  as  symptomatic  of  a  general 
interest  in  a  subject  which  has  so  long  been  near 
my  heart. 

G.  Stanley  Hall. 


THE  DRAMATIC  INSTINCT 
IN  EDUCATION 


INTRODUCTORY 

The  dramatic  instinct  is  a  prime  force  in  civili- 
zation; the  need  to  give  vent  to  pent-up  emotion, 
to  express  joy  of  living,  to  put  in  material  form 
the  ideas  that  vex  his  spirit,  has  driven  man  to 
imitate,  to  create.  Primitive  peoples  have  satis- 
fied this  need  in  songs  and  pantomime-dances; 
the  Egyptians  and  Assyrians  by  the  powerful 
action  of  their  temple  bas-reliefs;  Orientals  by 
puppet  performances  and  story- telling;  ancient 
Hebrews  by  religious  dances  and  grandly  dra- 
matic odes ;  the  Greeks  by  religious  processions, 
out  of  which  came  the  drama,  essentially  as  we 
have  it  now. 

Civilization  restrains  and  suppresses  the  volun- 
tary expression  of  emotion  that  seeks  outlet  in 
these  various  ways.  But  it  cannot  be  wholly 
stifled.    The  restraints  of  social  life  become  at 

I 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

times  too  irksome  to  be  endured.  Man  feels  the 
need  to  throw  off  the  "burden  of  civilization" 
and  seeks  excitement  and  emotional  experience, 
sometimes  in  the  mere  satisfaction  of  morbid 
curiosity;  as,  for  example,  in  witnessing  accidents 
and  executions,  in  attending  funerals,  taking 
part  in  revivals,  etc.,  and  particularly  by  theater- 
going. This  is  the  response  to  a  need  and  desire, 
felt  everywhere  and  in  all  ages  —  the  desire  to 
feel  what  others  are  feehng,  'Ho  get  experience 
by  proxy,  to  get  the  enjoyment  of  borrowed  pain, 
to  put  into  practice  the  Aristotelian  principle 
of  Katharsis.'^  All  this,  so  true  of  man,  is  still 
more  true  of  the  child  and  youth,  alive  with  sur- 
plus energy,  possessed  by  a  craving  for  excite- 
ment, seeking  always  for  something  new. 

Able  leaders  of  men  have  always  attained  their 
ends  by  a  more  or  less  conscious  exploiting  of 
the  dramatic  instinct.  It  has  been  more  or  less 
unconsciously  used  in  the  training  of  children. 
Recently,  as  an  outcome  of  the  new  enthusiasm 
for  child-study,  there  has  appeared  in  many 
schools,  as  well  as  in  settlements,  boys'  clubs 
and  public  playgrounds,  a  conscious  effort  to  exer- 
cise and  develop  it.  It  is  time  that  this  new 
movement,  which  apparently  has  come  to  stay, 
should  be  put  on  a  sound  psychological  basis, 

2 


INTRODUCTORY 

and  that  the  mistakes  which  vitiate  it  should 
be  noted  and  made  impossible  for  the  future. 

The  present  work  aims  to  show  the  need  for 
such  a  movement,  the  work  that  has  already- 
been  accomplished,  the  natural  origin  and  age- 
old  value  of  the  methods  employed,  and  to  draw 
a  few  conclusions  that  may  be  of  immediate 
service. 

It  was  not  formerly  customary  to  study  seri-. 
ously,  in  relation  to  educational  problems,  the 
emotional  needs  of  children.  Before  Rousseau, 
little  attention  was  paid  to  the  psychology  of 
feeling.  Froebel's  work  made  an  epoch  in  the 
encouragement  of  self-expression  in  the  child; 
since  when,  educators  have  shown  an  increasing 
tendency  to  consider  the  claims  of  the  emotional 
nature,  as  well  as  those  of  body  and  intellect. 
The  trend  of  modern  opinion  on  this  subject  is 
well  expressed  by  two  of  our  educational  author- 
ities. President  Hall  says:  that  the  sentiments 
constitute  three  fourths  of  life;  that  teachers 
should  be  made  to  feel  themselves  guardians 
of  emotional  sentiment;  that  as  the  education 
of  the  past  has  been  of  the  head,  the  education 
of  the  twentieth  century  will  be  of  the  heart. 
And  President  Eliot  tells  us:  that  the  child  is 
governed  by  sentiments  and  not  by  observation ; 

3 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

and  that  acquisition  and  reasoning,  material 
greatness  and  righteousness,  depend  more  on 
the  cultivation  of  right  sentiments  in  children 
than  on  anything  else. 

In  the  awakening  and  deepening  of  such  sen- 
timents, the  utilization  of  the  dramatic  instinct 
is  of  inestimable  value.  This  utilization  is  of 
two  kinds:  active. and  passive,  or  receptive  grati- 
fication. When  it  urges  the  child  to  his  mimic 
play,  and  the  artist  to  his  finest  creations,  it  is 
active  gratification.  But  it  is  also  satisfied  by 
vicarious  experience;  and  this  may  be  called  its 
passive  form.  Under  these  heads  we  may  classify 
the  subjects  treated  in  the  following  chapters. 
Play,  dancing,  story-telling,  and  participations 
in  any  kind  of  acting  belong  to  the  first,  and 
mere  attendance  at  any  staged  performance, 
moving  pictures,  puppet-play,  or  real  drama, 
to  the  second.  These  are  the  tools  by  which 
teachers  and  settlement  workers  are  proposing 
to  utilize  and  direct  the  ever-present  dramatic 
instinct,  and  thus  to  guard  the  emotional  nature 
and  educate  the  heart  of  the  child. 


II 


THE  THEATER-GOING  OF  CHILDREN 

That  the  child's  emotional  sentiment,  his  love 
of  self-expression,  is  strong,  that  he  longs  to  see 
a  show  and  to  take  part  in  one  —  to  imitate 
either  unconsciously  as  spectator,  or  consciously 
as  actor  or  creator  — finds  countless  illustrations. 
It  may  be  noticed  any  day  in  his  eagerness  to 
see  a  fire,  an  accident,  or  a  street  parade,  and 
by  his  attempts  later  to  imitate  much  that  he  has 
witnessed.  Nowhere  is  the  craving  for  passive 
gratification  more  strongly  manifested  than  by 
his  love  of  attending  theaters.  Throngs  of  chil- 
dren attend  regularly  and  exult  in  experiences 
uttei'ly  unsuited  to  their  needs  or  powers  of 
comprehension.  Teachers  and  settlement  workers 
have  long  realized  this,  but  only  recently  has  the 
general  public  been  awakened  to  the  extent  to 
which  this  need  of  the  child  has  thus  been  seek- 
ing satisfaction.  In  fact,  the  excessive  indul- 
gence of  the  theater-going  habit  among  children 
is  of  comparatively  recent  date.  Nor  is  the  rea- 
son far  to  seek.  Whereas  a  few  years  ago  tickets 

5 


DRAMATIC   INSTINCT   IN   EDUCATION 

cost  twenty-five  or  fifty  cents  apiece,  admitting 
the  bearer  to  the  top  gallery  and  more  or  less 
questionable  company,  or  to  standing  -  room 
only,  the  same  amount  or  sometimes  a  mere 
fractional  part  of  it  now  pays  for  the  best  seat 
in  the  theater.  The  vaudeville  show  has  worked 
its  way  up  to  comparative  respectability,  and 
was  from  the  start  more  reasonable  in  price  than 
even  the  cheapest  melodrama.  Moving  pictures, 
at  first  a  part  of  the  vaudeville,  have  now  come 
to  be  independent  entertainments.  There  has 
been  an  increase  in  the  number  of  stock  com- 
panies in  different  cities,  small  as  well  as  large, 
due  possibly  to  the  competition  of  vaudeville 
houses  and  nickelodeons  with  legitimate  drama 
and  melodrama;  for,  the  expenses  of  the  road 
being  eliminated,  plays  can  now  be  produced 
in  the  smaller  places  at  lower  rates  than  was 
possible  a  few  years  ago.  Thus  different  forms 
of  dramatic  entertainment  have  been  brought 
within  the  reach  of  the  poor  man,  and  no 
longer  rank  either  for  himself  or  his  family  as 
luxuries. 

Other  reasons  for  the  increase  in  theater- 
going are  that  through  immigration  our  popu- 
lation has  now  a  larger  percentage  of  people  of 
Latin  blood,  naturally  more  vivacious  than  the 

6 


THE  THEATER-GOING  OF  CHILDREN 

Saxon,  and   that   shorter   working  -  hours  give 
greater  opportunity  for  recreation. 

Not  only  has  the  theater  ceased  to  be  an 
event  in  the  Hfe  of  the  adult,  but  the  same  is 
true  of  the  child;  so  that  if  it  claims  fewer  hours 
than  does  the  school,  it  is  nevertheless  exerting 
a  more  subtle  though  scarcely  less  powerful 
influence.  Certain  events  and  more  or  less  recent 
investigations  have  brought  out  startling  dis- 
closures. Only  a  few  years  ago,  when  in  New  York 
the  law  was  enforced  which  prohibited  children 
under  sixteen  unaccompanied  by  parents  from 
patronizing  theaters,  eighty  out  of  eight  hundred 
and  sixty  theaters  which  had  moving  pictures 
were  closed  in  one  week.  They  were  frequented 
at  the  time  by  from  three  to  four  hundred  thou- 
sand people  daily,  seventy-five  thousand  to  one 
hundred  thousand  of  whom  were  children.  Ac- 
cording to  some  authorities,  the  theater  for  chil- 
dren in  this  country  has  become  a  veritable  pas- 
sion and  even  disease.  In  Boston  it  has  been 
found  that  nearly  all  children  between  the  ages 
of  ten  and  fourteen  attend  theaters  of  one  variety 
or  another  occasionally,  and  that  not  less  than 
ten  per  cent  go  as  often  as  once  a  week. 

Some  of  the  investigations  by  special  com- 
mittees of  various  civic  organizations  have  taken 

•        7 


DRAMATIC   INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

the  form  of  theater-visiting  in  order  to  ascertain 
the  hygienic  conditions,  character  of  material 
presented,  age  and  general  appearance  of  chil- 
dren attending,  and  the  effect  of  the  entertain- 
ment as  shown  by  remarks  overheard  or  deliber- 
ately brought  out  in  conversation.  In  others, 
they  have  used  the  questionnaire  method,  and, 
through  teachers,  children  of  different  schools 
have  been  examined  as  to  their  theater-going. 

As  the  result  of  an  investigation  of  the  latter 
type  in  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  made  by  the 
Public  Education  Association,  it  appeared  that 
four  fifths  of  the  nearly  five  thousand  children 
between  the  ages  of  eight  and  fifteen  interrogated 
were  theater-goers,  about  one  half  the  number 
attending  once  a  month  or  oftener,  while  some 
went  as  often  as  once  a  week.  Of  over  seven 
hundred  grammar-school  children  examined  in 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  aged  nine  to  seven- 
teen, two  thirds  were  in  the  habit  of  going  to 
theaters.  Many  children  could  not  remember 
how  often  they  had  attended,  saying,  ''Too 
many  times  to  count";  while  others  professed 
to  have  been  twice  a  week,  weekly,  bi-weekly, 
and  even  nightly.  In  Chicago,  an  investigation 
of  nearly  five  hundred  children  between  the  ages 
of  eight  and  sixteen  showed  a  theater  attendance 

8 


THE  THEATER-GOING  OF  CHILDREN 

of  almost  precisely  similar  proportion  to  that  of 
Providence.  Girls  and  boys  were  examined  in 
nearly  equal  numbers.  Theater  attendance  on 
the  part  of  the  boys  was  somewhat  in  excess; 
though,  where  afternoon  performances,  as  in 
Chicago,  were  patronized  to  greater  extent  than 
were  the  evening,  the  difference  was  less  marked. 
Though  quite  a  large  number  of  children  said 
they  were  accustomed  to  going  with  older  people, 
many  went  with  young  companions;  and  a  con- 
siderable number,  chiefly  boys,  said  that  they 
went  alone. 

As  for  material  presented,  while  classic  and 
standard  plays  and  old-time  melodramas  were 
among  the  number  witnessed,  the  greater  part 
was  of  highly  sensational  character,  and  while 
not  absolutely  immoral,  was  coarse,  inartistic, 
and  uneducational,  if  not  distinctly  detrimental, 
in  influence.  Though  mention  was  made  of 
Julius  CcBsar,  Hamlet,  and  Faust,  and  of  the 
better  sort  of  romantic  dramas,  such  as  When 
Knighthood  was  in  Flower,  as  also  of  a  few 
plays  that  entertain  and  at  the  same  time  im- 
press valuable  truths  or  lessons,  most,  judging 
by  names,  were  of  a  cheaper  order,  such  as 
Lottie,  the  Poor  Sales -Lady,  The  Hired- Girl's 
Millions,  and  Nellie,  the  Beautiful  Cloak-Model. 

9 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

Uncle  Tain's  Cabin,  however,  was  a  prime  favor- 
ite, and  other  especially  popular  plays  were  The 
Night  Before  Christmas,  Tony  the  Boot -Blacky 
His  Last  Dollar,  Convict  ggg,  Two  Orphans,  and 
The  Time,  the  Place,  and  the  Girl. 

Answers  to  questions  as  to  what  was  liked  in 
the  different  plays  brought  out  the  fact  that 
a  large  class  of  children  were  undiscriminating, 
either  from  confused  memory  or  lack  of  descrip- 
tive ability.  A  large  proportion  failed  to  offer 
comments  on  what  they  had  seen,  saying  they 
had  '^ forgotten,"  or  ''liked  it  all."  Of  those  who 
did  discriminate,  by  far  the  larger  number  of 
both  girls  and  boys  liked  special  scenes;  next  in 
preference  came  tricks  and  juggling  (the  choice 
of  a  number  of  boys  but  of  few  girls) ;  then  *'  things 
that  were  funny";  then  the  performances  of 
trained  animals;  and  lastly,  details  that  had 
aesthetic  value,  which  appealed  to  few  of  either 
sex. 

In  the  special  acts  or  scenes  mentioned,  the 
exciting  or  emotional  led.  Shooting  and  killing, 
train  robberies,  "thundering"  and  racing-scenes, 
all  appealed  strongly  to  both  girls  and  boys,  and 
in  some  cases  a  liking  for  the  morbid  was  mani- 
fest. ''I  liked  best,  the  shooting  of  the  Indians"; 
*' Where  the  Monkey-man  escapes,  and  when  he 

10 


I 


THE  THEATER-GOING  OF  CHILDREN 

fights  with  the  villain  and  kills  him";  ''I  like 
where  they  gamble  for  the  girl";  *'I  like  where 
the  man  kills  his  wife";  and  similar  verdicts 
abounded.  A  few  showed  a  taste  for  the  myste- 
rious and  a  large  number  for  the  melodramatic 
and  pathetic.  "I  liked  where  the  Man  Monkey 
said,  'And  if  you  shall  kill  me,  the  secret  shall 
die  with  me'  ";  ''I  liked  the  ghost  [in  HamletY'; 
*'I  liked  where  Annie  went  out  into  the  storm"; 
"I  liked  where  little  Eva  went  to  heaven";  *'I 
liked  the  part  where  the  young  lady  dies"  were 
characteristic  replies.  Preference  for  music  and 
dancing  was  shown,  but  without  detail,  as  in 
^'I  liked  singing,  playing  on  instruments  and 
dancing";  "I  liked  the  singing";  ''  I  liked  Robin 
Hood  because  they  had  fine  music";  and  appre- 
ciation for  the  comic  was  also  expressed,  but  in 
general  terms,  no  attempt  at  analysis  being 
made.  "I  liked  it  because  it  was  funny"  was  a 
more  common  form  of  expression.  Animal  per- 
formances were  commented  upon  more  in  detail, 
indicating  that  this  interest  is  of  a  somewhat 
deeper  nature  than  that  aroused  by  some  of  the 
other  forms  of  entertainment.  With  the  few 
children  who  showed  aesthetic  appreciation,  state- 
ments were  vague,  on  the  order  of  ''I  liked  the 
scenery";  ''I  liked  it  because  it  was  pretty"; 

II 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

while  the  purely  romantic  affected  few  but  the 
older  pupils. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  regarding  prefer- 
ences that  the  comments  showed  the  normal 
tastes  and  interests  of  children  of  the  ages  under 
question  as  well  as  the  usual  sex-differences ;  girls 
liking  more  the  serious  plays,  though  showing 
the  same  liking  for  thrilling  and  exciting  episodes 
and  situations  as  the  boys. 

Following  the  Worcester  investigation,  teach- 
ers in  two  of  the  public  schools  on  the  east  side 
of  the  city  were  asked  to  have  pupils  write  essays 
on  what  they  had  seen  and  liked  at  theaters. 
One  of  the  papers  is  given  here  verbatim.  It  re- 
pays a  reading. 

THE  NEAPOLITAN'S  REVENGE 

{Seen  in  Moving  Pictures) 

At  a  table  in  a  yard  sat  a  man  and  woman  talking. 
On  a  doorstep  sat  a  small  boy  playing.  The  costume 
of  the  woman  is  a  shirt-waist  and  a  square  piece  of 
stiff  cloth  on  her  head  from  which  fell  a  long  thick 
veil.  The  man  had  tights  and  a  \Adde  girdle.  Soon 
he  went  into  the  house  and  brought  out  a  decanter 
and  glasses.  As  he  went  in  a  man  came  and  handed 
her  a  letter,  which,  as  her  husband  came  out  she 
thrust  into  her  bosom,  but  it  slid  out  and  when  they 

12 


THE  THEATER-GOING  OF  CHILDREN 

finished  drinking  she  went  into  the  house  and  the 
husband  went  off.  The  boy  found  the  letter  which 
dropped  and  his  father  took  it  away  from  him  and 
read  it.  The  letter  read  as  follows:  "Dear  Solo: 
meet  me  on  the  rocks  to-night.  Lovingly,  Ran- 
dolph." 

Scene  2.  A  field  along  the  seashore,  with  a  man 
standing  near  the  water.  The  man's  costume  was 
an  overalls  turned  up  to  the  hips. 

Soon  the  woman  whom  we  had  seen  in  the  yard 
came  and  he  went  to  help  her.  They  walked  all 
around  and  finally  came  to  a  round,  high  and  large, 
such  as  we  see  in  deserts.  Here  he  attempts  to  kiss 
her  face  but  she  won't  let  him,  so  they  go  on. 

But!  we  have  not  noticed  the  third  man  who  has 
followed  them  all  the  way  and  heard  all  they  've 
said;  who  is  he,  and  what  has  he  in  his  hand?  In 
his  hand  he  has  a  dagger  and  he  is  her  husband.  But 
they  are  out  of  sight,  where  have  they  gone?  Here 
they  are  just  entering  the  home  owned  by  him  whom 
she  has  run  away  with.  She  brushes  her  dress  as  he 
on  his  knees  makes  love  to  her.  Who  is  following 
still?  Her  husband.  He  goes  in  after  the  culprits. 
He  forces  a  dagger  deep  into  the  man's  heart  and 
he  lay  on  the  floor  writhing  in  pain  and  the  husband 
takes  a  long  rope  and  binds  his  wife  to  the  chair  so 
she  can  hardly  breathe.  He  then  takes  clothes,  straw, 
the  lace  draperies  and  soon  the  beautiful  mansion  was 
in  flames.  The  man  goes  home,  his  son  runs  away. 
What  joy  has  he  now? 

13 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN   EDUCATION 

This  picturesque  narrative  by  a  little  girl  in 
the  seventh  grade  shows  what  might  be  the  influ- 
ence of  rightly  chosen  plays. 

To  carry  out  the  foregoing  investigation  more 
fully,  the  writer  addressed  a  questionnaire  to 
the  teachers  of  schools  in  Providence  and  Chi- 
cago asking  the  number  of  absences  traced  to  the- 
ater attendance,  the  effect  of  theater-going  upon 
school  work  and  composition,  upon  character, 
ideals,  conduct  and  manners,  and  concerning 
the  practice  of  giving  school  plays.  These  ques- 
tions brought  forth  chiefly  negative  results.  Few, 
apparently,  had  given  the  subject  thought,  and 
most  of  those  answering  had  noticed  no  direct 
eft'ects  whatever  upon  pupils.  Even  among  those 
who  answered  generously,  offering  interesting 
and  suggestive  comments  and  giving  definite 
opinions,  there  was  little  unanimity.  With  the 
teachers  who  thought  theater-going  had  had  a 
bad  influence,  the  criticism  was  rather  of  the 
material  presented  than  of  theater  -  going  in 
general.  Their  remarks  and  observations  related 
chiefly  to  the  effect  upon  the  language  and  man- 
ners of  pupils;  though  the  effect  upon  charac- 
ter, temperament  and  scholarship  was  also 
noted.  Among  these  various  opinions  were  the 
following:  — 

14 


THE  THEATER-GOING  OF  CHILDREN 

Less  refined  vocabularies  and  a  great  use  of  slang, 
one  result  of  theater-going. 

Ideas  not  suited  to  childhood  inculcated;  forward- 
ness and  bad  manners  the  result. 

Children  attending  most  frequently  among  the 
weakest  in  character  and  of  low  moral  tone. 

It  induces  dreaminess  or  listlessness  and  inability 
to  keep  attention  upon  work.  A  feeling  of  unrest 
and  a  dislike  for  continued  apphcation. 

Pupils,  in  some  cases,  were  thought  to  have  been 
influenced  unfavorably  by  older  members  of  a  family 
of  theater-goers. 

According  to  other  teachers  the  noticeable 
effects  were  good. 

Larger  vocabularies;  greater  power  of  expression; 
a  wider  comprehension  of  language. 

A  better  understanding  of  literary  forms  and  a 
general  "broadening"  effect. 

Gain  in  ease  of  manner  and  pohteness;  a  sharpen- 
ing of  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong. 

These  teachers  said  furthermore  that  the  thea- 
ter-going children  seemed  more  wide-awake  than 
the  rest.  In  their  opinion  dime  novels  and  other 
trashy  reading  and  the  street  as  playground  had 
a  far  more  injurious  effect  upon  character. 

In  general,  the  teachers  failed  to  correlate 
theater  attendance  with  scholarship,  and  the 

15 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

few  reports  upon  this  point  disagreed.  One 
teacher  claimed  that  in  every  case  where  children 
made  numerous  visits  to  the  theater,  they  were 
over  age  for  the  grade  and  extremely  poor  pupils; 
others  stated  that  the  most  frequent  attendants 
were  good  pupils  both  in  work  and  conduct.  Only 
a  few  absences  due  to  theater  -  going  were  re- 
ported. A  few  girls  had  made  attempts  to  repro- 
duce fancy  steps,  and  boys  athletic  feats;  though, 
as  a  whole,  the  result  in  imitation  seems  to  have 
been  rather  slight.  In  boys,  admiration  of  Wild 
West  adventures  increased.  One  teacher  traced 
this  directly  in  two  pupils  who  had  attended  fre- 
quently; one  presented  her  almost  every  day 
with  a  little  picture  of  himself  as  cowboy,  on  foot 
or  on  horseback,  and  also  gave  her  a  picture  of 
'Convict  999";  the  other  boy  came  to  school 
with  a  cowboy  belt  and  a  pistol-case. 

Although  the  results  of  this  inquiry  were  thus 
inconclusive,  doubtless  owing  to  lack  of  system- 
atic observation  on  the  part  of  the  teachers,  a 
possible  good  resulted  from  drawing  their  atten- 
tion to  the  problem. 

In  contrast  to  such  excessive  gratification  as 
mere  spectators  of  theater  performances,  these 
children  were  found  to  have  had  little  experience 
as  actors.   Less  than  a  fourth  of  the  number  had 

16 


THE  THEATER-GOING  OF  CHILDREN 

ever  taken  part  in  plays,  either  in  school  or  else- 
where. Most  of  the  teachers  made  no  practice 
of  having  stories  acted  or  of  giving  school  plays, 
though,  in  the  few  instances  where  this  was  done, 
favorable  results  were  reported.  The  usual  rea- 
sons for  considering  such  practice  beneficial  were 
given:  as  a  means  of  impressing  a  lesson  vividly 
so  that  it  is  not  easily  forgotten;  teaching  children 
to  appear  at  ease  in  public;  a  method  of  insuring 
work  on  the  part  of  pupils  because  of  the  interest 
aroused;  affording  a  pleasing  variety  to  the  rou- 
tine of  school  work;  and  also,  bringing  teacher 
and  pupil  into  closer  fellowship.  Of  the  unfavor- 
able conditions,  it  was  mentioned  that  many 
lessons  are  not  suitable  for  acting  while  others 
admit  a  few  actors  only;  and,  when  all  the  chil- 
dren cannot  take  part,  some  in  consequence  are 
made  unhappy,  besides  faihng  to  get  the  benefit 
resulting  from  participation  in  the  acting.  The 
danger,  too,  of  making  the  more  talented  pupils 
conceited  was  touched  on ;  and  also,  as  a  possible 
harmful  feature  of  dramatics,  the  general  atmos- 
phere of  excitement  that  prevails  among  the 
children  throughout  the  school  when  preparations 
for  a  play  are  in  progress,  many  of  them  seeming 
to  feel  offended  when  asked  to  open  schoolbooks. 
A  slight  disposition  to  regard  play-giving  as  a 

17 


•^N 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

means  of  rewarding  good  work  and  conduct, 
rather  than  as  an  instrument  for  securing  the 
same,  was  evident,  one  teacher  reporting  school 
entertainments  twice  a  year,  when  the  "most 
deserving"  pupils  took  part,  "with  beneficial 
results  to  themselves  and  to  the  school."  In 
some  cases,  lack  of  time  and  a  crowded  curric- 
ulum were  the  excuses  given  for  excluding  the 
practice;  but,  in  general,  a  certain  degree  of 
appreciation  of  its  advantages  was  apparent, 
though  not  the  enthusiasm  which  the  writer  has 
encountered  when  talking  with  teachers  who 
make  a  special  point  of  meeting  the  need  in  chil- 
dren for  dramatic  expression,  and  who  recognize 
the  splendid  opportunity  for  it  in  connection 
with  school  work. 

Of  those  who  had  taken  part,  only  a  small 
proportion  had  failed  to  enjoy  the  experience. 
Where  dislike  of  acting  was  expressed,  the  an- 
swer seemed  to  point  to  faults  in  the  method  of 
training  and  production  (the  play  having  evi- 
dently taken  on  too  ostensibly  the  form  of  a 
task),  as  shown  by  the  following:  "I  did  not 
enjoy  it,  you  have  so  many  rehearsals  and  have 
to  learn  so  much."  These,  however,  were  not 
the  common  grounds  of  complaint,  which  were 
seemingly  the  result  of  sensitiveness  and  self- 

i8 


THE  THEATER-GOING  OF  CHILDREN 

consciousness,  as  illustrated  by:  "No,  I  did  not 
enjoy  it  because  everybody  looks  at  you,  and 
talks  about  you;  and  if  you  make  a  little  mistake 
they  laugh  at  you";  while  with  a  few  children 
there  seemed  to  be  an  unnatural  fastidiousness 
in  an  aversion  to  dressing  and  making-up,  black- 
ing hands  and  face,  etc.  The  great  majority  of 
the  children,  however,  showed  thorough  enjoy- 
ment of  the  experience,  both  the  preparation 
and  the  actual  giving  of  the  performance.  Pride 
in  having  a  principal  role  entered  into  this  enjoy- 
ment for  some  children,  and  love  of  praise;  as 
also  the  feeling  of  conscious  power,  the  fun  of 
practicing,  enjoyment  of  its  impersonality,  its 
amusing  quality  as  a  play,  the  novelty  of  speech 
and  dress,  pleasure  in  declaiming  and  in  the 
company  of  other  children  of  the  same  age. 

The  comments  of  the  children  brought  out 
various  points  of  interest.  Some  lost  themselves 
so  completely  in  the  story  of  the  play  that  they 
failed  to  enter  into  particulars,  but  simply  took 
pride  in  the  impersonation  of  the  part ;  as  shown 
by  such  expressions  as  ''I  have  taken  part  in 
a  play  myself."  The  egotistic  desire  for  self-ex- 
pression came  out,  as  in  the  following:  "I  did 
enjoy  it.  I  had  a  great  deal  to  do  in  all."  In 
one  case,  a  mercenary  spirit  was  shown:  "I  did 

19 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN   EDUCATION 

enjoy  it  because  I  got  lots  of  money  and  the  best 
part."  The  dehght  in  '^  dressing  up,"  so  strong  in 
almost  all  children,  as  well  as  enjoyment  of  the 
comic  and  the  novel,  was  seen  in  remarks  such 
as  *'I  took  part  in  Singin  Skewl ;  I  enjoyed  it 
because  we  were  all  dressed  up  and  had  funny 
names,  and  a  funny  man  was  teacher  and  he  said 
funny  things."  Some  children  showed  recogni- 
tion of  the  benefit  of  training  in  expression,  say- 
ing, ''Yes,  I  enjoyed  it  because  it  shows  us  some- 
thing and  shows  us  how  to  talk,"  and  ''Because 
I  like  to  speak";  and  gratification  of  the  social 
instinct  was  indicated  by  "I  enjoyed  it  because 
we  had  fun  practicing";  and  "I  enjoyed  it  be- 
cause the  other  persons  were  about  my  age.*' 
A  large  proportion  of  the  children  showed  the 
strength  of  the  imitative  instinct,  for,  in  addition 
to  the  plays  in  which  they  had  been  trained  in 
their  parts,  characters  and  scenes  that  had  made 
an  impression  on  them  at  the  theater  were  re- 
produced spontaneously  by  them  in  their  play. 
A  number  of  children  had  taken  part  in  plays 
in  their  own  attics  and  cellars,  imitating,  pre- 
sumably, plays  seen  at  the  theater;  as  shown  by 
the  remark,  "Imitating  Gentleman  Jim,  the 
Diamond  Thief,  yes,  I  enjoyed  it  very  much, 
there  was  killing  in  it"  —  which  is  typical,  more- 

20 


THE  THEATER-GOING  OF  CHILDREN 

over,  of  a  class  of  scenes  which  appealed  strongly 
to  the  imagination.  While  a  few  of  the  com- 
ments showed  originality,  the  greater  number 
gave  again  and  again  the  same  idea,  sometimes 
in  slightly  varying  forms  of  expression,  but  often 
in  almost  identical  wording. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  children  in  some  of  the 
Chicago  schools  were  told  by  teachers  to  rule 
out  attendance  at  moving  -  picture  theaters, 
while  in  others  this  was  included  in  the  reports, 
results  on  this  point  and  inferences  regarding 
preference  for  scenes  and  plays  witnessed  were 
invalidated  for  purposes  of  comparison  with  the 
reports  from  other  cities.  The  fact  also  that 
teachers  themselves  in  a  few  cases  tabulated 
results  in  place  of  submitting  original  papers  led 
to  incompleteness.  On  the  whole,  however,  only 
minor  differences  between  the  sets  of  answers 
were  noticeable. 

The  data  obtained,  giving  the  answers  of  but 
few  teachers  and  results  from  the  examinations 
of  a  comparatively  small  number  of  children, 
are  offered  not  for  quantitative  or  statistical 
value,  but  merely  for  their  suggestiveness.  Any 
one  familiar  with  the  questionnaire  method  will 
realize  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  satisfactory 
replies  from  children.   While  in  many  cases  an- 

21 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

swers  were 'evidently  given  with  perfect  sincer- 
ity, in  others  there  was  a  lack  of  it,  especially 
in  questions  relating  to  expense  and  number 
of  performances  attended.  Children  of  widely 
different  classes  of  society  were  represented  by 
the  schools  chosen  and  some  allowance  had  to 
be  made  for  those  of  foreign  parentage,  who 
either  misunderstood  the  questions  or  failed  to 
express  their  meaning;  also,  for  too  vivid  imagi- 
nation, marking  the  prolongation  of  the  age  when 
strict  adherence  to  truth  has  not  become  ha- 
bitual. 

With  one  group  of  children,  the  uniformity 
of  expression  and  the  altruistic  motives  given 
for  their  enjoyment  in  taking  part  in  plays  had 
to  be  discounted;  they  indicated  too  plainly  the 
guiding  hand  of  the  teacher  in  shaping  the  replies. 
A  good  deal  of  allowance,  too,  must  be  made  for 
the  inhibiting  influence  of  the  schoolroom,  and 
for  the  giving-out  of  the  questions  much  in  the 
form  of  a  school  examination.  One  must  bear 
in  mind,  moreover,  how  far  behind  their  powers 
of  comprehension  is  the  ability  of  young  children 
to  express  themselves.  Some  few  children  may 
have  tried  to  hit  upon  the  answer  expected  of 
them,  but  in  most  instances  the  answers  were 
characterized  by  naivete. 

22 


THE  THEATER-GOING  OF  CHILDREN 

Yet  inadequate  though' the  information  is  in 
some  respects,  certain  generalizations  seem  safe 
and  justifiable.  Even  though  exact  figures  may 
be  lacking,  the  great  prevalence  of  the  theater- 
going habit  among  children  and  the  excessive 
frequency  of  attendance  stand  out  with  incon- 
testable plainness.  Children's  inabiHty  to  re- 
member names  of  plays  seen,  their  often  inde- 
finite answers  and  failure  to  discriminate  clearly, 
indicate  that  too  frequent  theater-going  surfeits 
rather  than  stimulates  the  imagination.  More- 
over, the  children's  testimony  shows  the  trashy 
character  of  the  greater  part  of  the  material 
presented ;  appetite  for  the  exciting  is  ministered 
to  in  undesirable  forms,  criminal  characters  call- 
ing forth  admiration  by  their  daring  and  figur- 
ing as  heroes ;  while  the  cultivation  of  fine  feeling 
and  scruples  is  frequently  incompatible  with 
the  general  lesson  conveyed.  It  also  furnishes 
evidence  of  the  laxity  of  officials  in  enforcing 
the  laws  regarding  the  attendance  of  young  chil- 
dren unaccompanied  by  older  people,  and  of  the 
large  proportion  of  children  allowed  by  their 
parents  to  go  to  evening  performances.  It  fur- 
nishes, besides,  direct  evidence  of  children's  at- 
tempts to  imitate  what  has  been  witnessed ;  thus 
suggesting  the  force  of  the  impulse  to  reproduce 
•      23 


^/ 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

and  dramatize,  and  the  necessity  of  providing 
good  examples  for  imitation. 

From  the  acknowledged  lack  of  previous  con- 
sideration of  the  subject  of  children's  theater  at- 
tendance by  many  teachers  and  from  the  slight 
account  taken  of  play-giving  in  school,  we  may 
learn  how  little  the  possibilities  of  the  drama  for 
educational  purposes  have  been  recognized,  and 
how  generally  a  great  emotional  force  has  been 
allowed  to  run  to  waste. 


Ill 

PSYCHOLOGICAL  ASPECTS  OF  DRAMATIC 
ENTERTAINMENT 

From  the  foregoing  statements  it  is  evident  that 
the  theater  is  a  force  to  be  reckoned  with  in  the 
life  of  children.  The  means  to  which  they  resort 
in  procuring  entrance  furnish  added  testimony. 

Settlement  workers  say  that  young  people  of 
their  neighborhoods  go  supperless  in  order  to 
buy  tickets,  and  the  United  Hebrews  Charities 
of  New  York  is  often  asked  to  procure  reduced- 
rate  tickets  for  children  apparently  far  more  in 
need  of  food  and  clothing.  In  their  great  desire 
to  see  cheap  shows,  boys  even  resort  to  public 
begging.  According  to  the  manager  of  one  of 
the  large  vaudeville  houses  of  a  New  England 
city,  they  used  to  station  themselves  outside  his 
theater  and  beg  for  pennies  for  tickets,  till  he 
was  obliged  to  have  a  special  officer  detailed  to 
keep  them  from  his  premises. 

Truant  officers  and  those  who  come  into  con- 
tact with  juvenile  delinquents  have  frequent 
proof  of  this  passion  for  the  theater.  Dr.  D.  P. 
■      25 


DRAMATIC   INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

Macmillan,  director  of  the  child-study  depart- 
ment in  the  Chicago  Public  Schools,  finds  that 
"every  child  who  comes  in  for  a  psycho-physical 
examination  from  the  Juvenile  Court,  either  on 
a  charge  of  delinquency  or  truancy,  is  found  to 
be  a  chronic  frequenter  of  cheap  theaters."  J. 
Adams  Puffer,  formerly  of  the  Lyman  Reform 
School,  in  an  article  on  boys'  gangs,  quotes  from 
the  truancy  record,  showing  that  thirty-six  out 
of  sixty-four  boys  went  to  shows,  while  twenty- 
four  ran  away  to  go  to  them.  "Often,"  he  says, 
"boys  steal  money  or  pick  things  out  of  the  dump 
to  sell,  in  order  to  go  to  shows."  Says  Miss 
Addams,  "Out  of  my  twenty  years'  experience 
at  Hull  House  I  recall  all  sorts  of  pilferings,  petty 
larcenies,  and  even  burglaries,  due  to  the  never- 
ceasing  effort  on  the  part  of  boys  to  procure 
theater  tickets."  One  illustration  that  she  gives 
tells  of  a  boy  who  at  seven  took  money  from  his 
mother  for  the  Saturday  evening  play;  and  who, 
after  he  was  ten,  was  furnished  with  it  regularly. 
But  the  Saturday  performance  only  "started 
him  off  like,"  and  to  attend  twice  again  on  Sun- 
day the  money  was  procured  in  various  unlaw- 
ful ways. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  instances  which  might 
be  multiplied  indefinitely  to  show  the  irresistible 

26 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ASPECTS 

attraction  of  the  theater  for  youth  and  childhood. 
Even  in  the  spring,  when  the  impulse  to  be  out 
of  doors  is  strong,  moving-picture  shows  will 
be  found  crowded  with  boys.  Thus  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  theater  meets  a  need;  it  satisfies  natural 
curiosity,  the  craving  for  excitement,  and  the\ 
love  of  excursions  into  the  world  of  the  imagina-  J 
tion.   The  more  restricted  and  colorless  the  life^' 
the  more  this  need  is  felt. 

In  reality  this  demand  for  the  dramatic  isl^ 
only  a  demand  for  the  expression  of  personality,  ' 
—  ''a  push  of  the  ego  which  finds  its  vent  vicari- 
ously," —  and  the  chance  to  escape  from  Hmi- 
tations,  both  natural  and  imposed,  is  eagerly 
sought  and  seized  upon.  Especially  is  this  the 
case  in  narrow  lives  where  the  greater  the  monot- 
ony and  the  more  filled  with  drudgery,  the  greater 
is  the  craving  for  variety  and  change  —  the 
reaction  and  revolt  from  the  starved  imagina- 
tion. 

But  granting,  as  one  must,  the  perennial  at- 
traction of  the  theater,  admitting  that  theatrical 
nutriment  is  beneficial  or  necessary  for  young  , 
people,  the  question  may  well  be  asked,  "How  ^ 
can  we  render  the  theater  educationally  effec-^ 
live  and  make  it  a  force  for  good?" 

To  say  that  the  theater  does  not  occupy  to- 

27 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

day  a  high  and  dignified  position  is  mere  com- 
monplace; but  what  are  we  doing  to  improve  its 
condition?  For  years  various  means  have  been 
suggested;  but,  until  recently,  they  have  led  to 
little  organized  effort,  and  that  Httle  limited  to 
few  directions.  It  has  been  said  that  to  elevate 
the  theater  the  people  must  first  be  elevated, 
and  that  to  elevate  the  people  the  theater  must 
first  be  elevated.  This  reasoning  in  a  circle  is 
yet  true,  and  efforts  have  been  directed  to  both 
ends.  Art  theaters  have  been  proposed  that, 
freed  from  the  spirit  of  commercialism,  the  thea- 
ter might  provide  only  the  best;  while  opposed 
to  this  solution  is  the  belief  that  it  is  impossible 
to  force  upon  the  public  what  it  does  not  want; 
and  that  the  desire  for  something  better  is  first 
to  be  created  and  the  taste  of  the  people  culti- 
vated and  uplifted.  In  reality,  creating  a  finer 
public  taste  means  the  building  of  a  finer  public 
morality,  for  there  is,  indeed,  as  Coleridge  said, 
an  intimate  connection  between  the  two. 

In  this  whole  question  of  public  taste  and 
morals  the  theater  touches  one  of  the  educational 
problems  of  the  day,  namely,  the  old  question 
of  how  far  cultural  studies  may  with  impunity 
be  crowded  out  of  public-school  work  in  order 
to  give  place  to  the  so-called  practical  subjects 

28 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ASPECTS 

of  the  course.  The  schools  educate  the  people 
who  create  the  demand  for  drama;  but  how  little 
they  are  educating  them  to  appreciate  the  beau- 
tiful and  artistic,  the  class  of  plays  which  appeal 
most  to  the  general  run  of  theater-goers  offers 
convincing  proof. 

It  is,  indeed,  true  that  our  public  schools  do 
little  to  develop  the  dramatic  and  aesthetic  sense, 
or  prepare  children  to  exercise  discrimination 
between  good  drama  and  what  is  essentially  / 
coarse,  between  the  artistic  and  the  low-toned. 
The  Katharsis  (purification)  of  Aristotle,  too,  is 
almost  entirely  overlooked.  Yet  so  long  as  the 
theater  forms  one  of  the  chief  amusements  of 
the  people,  how  else,  if  not  in  the  common  schools, 
is  the  great  body  of  theater-goers  to  be  trained 
to  proper  standards?  Even  when  plays  are  stud- 
ied in  school,  which  happens  only  in  high  schools 
or  upper  grammar  grades,  the  greater  part  are 
read  as  literature;  and  as  Professor  Baker  of 
Harvard  has  pointed  out,  pupils  are  seldom 
taught  to  feel  or  to  see  them  as  different  from  a 
story,  though  it  is  only  in  realizing  the  action 
that  a  play  can  be  properly  appreciated  and 
judged. 

The  theater  is  a  dangerous  force  when  left  to 
itself.  So  far  has  it  departed,  in  these  days,  from 

29 


s 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

its  former  high  ideals  that  it  is  hard  to  realize 
how  intimate  was  the  connection  which  once 
existed  between  it  and  religion.  All  peoples  have 
possessed  some  sort  of  drama,  however  crude; 
but  far  back  in  the  beginnings  of  civilization,  it 
developed  out  of  religious  practices  and  teach- 
ings. In  ancient  Greece  the  reciting  of  legends 
or  hymns  associated  with  certain  reUgious  observ- 
ances and  rites  and  accompanied  by  dance  and 
gesture  developed  into  the  accepted  form  of 
classic  drama.  Even  after  classic  drama  came 
into  its  definite  and  lasting  form,  it  preserved  for 
a  considerable  period  the  religious  element,  as 
is  shown  in  fragments  of  the  Neo- Greek  drama. 
Again,  in  its  mediaeval  revival,  it  was  used  for 
educational  and  moral  ends,  when  mystery  plays 
became  a  direct  means  of  spiritual  and  moral 
instruction,  uplifting  and  educating  the  masses 
while  seeming  only  to  amuse.  Monks  and  guild- 
players,  going  about  in  their  two-storied  carts, 
giving  performances  to  the  assembled  crowds,  so 
impressed  the  thought  and  lofty  expression  of 
their  Bible  plays  upon  the  hearers  that  feeling 
was  stirred  and  mind  and  character  developed. 

To-day,  opportunities  for  turning  it  to  good 
account  are  as  great  as  in  olden  times;  and  ap- 
pealing as  it  does  to  ear  and  eye  alike,  possess- 

30 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ASPECTS 

ing  greater  opportunities  than  other  arts  for 
moving  the  great  mass  of  people  it  stirs  emotions 
quickly,  gives  ideals  and  standards  and  shapes 
conduct,  playing  upon  those  especially  suscep- 
tible to  good  or  bad  influence  with  beneficial 
or  disastrous  result. 

Indeed,  it  would  be  difficult  to  overemphasize 
the  moral  effect  of  drama  for  good  or  for  evil, 
though  the  latter  is  more  readily  discerned.  It 
may  not  be  immediately  apparent,  since  it  is 
frequently  too  subtle  to  be  traced  definitely  to 
its  source.  Nevertheless,  we  must  remember  that 
the  theater  is  always  educating  either  upward 
or  downward,  however  little  spectators  are  con- 
scious of  it. 

In  an  article  by  Miss  Elizabeth  McCracken  on 
''Play  and  the  Gallery,"  numerous  interesting 
examples  of  the  effect  on  individuals  are  given, 
showing  how  the  remembrance  of  certain  plays 
or  characters  of  plays  has  helped  them  over 
crises  in  their  lives.  One  girl,  when  asked  how 
she  Hked  Cyrano  de  Bergerac,  said  she  thought 
*'all  the  trouble  came  because  they  cared  so 
much  for  looks";  later,  this  girl  comforted  a  child 
who  had  been  badly  burned  and  was  likely  to 
be  disfigured  by  saying,  ''Well,  it  won't  matter 
much,  dear;  looks  ain't  what  count;  it's  what  we 

31 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

do  that  counts/'  A  woman  who  had  seen  the 
Merchant  of  Venice  and  remembered  Portia's 
famous  speech  on  mercy  remarked,  ''I  don't 
want  to  be  mean,  'cause  of  her."  Another  wo- 
man said  that  Othello  believed  everything  he 
heard,  and  so  remembering  how  he  ended  kept 
her  from  believing  lots  she  heard.  *' These  peo- 
ple," says  Miss  McCracken,  ''are  unconsciously 
making  a  plea  for  the  theater."  She  mentions 
certain  plays  whose  influence  has  been  harmful. 
A  girl  who  had  seen  Nell  Gwynn  said,  ''She  was 
n't  a  good  woman,  was  she?  But  in  the  play  she 
seemed  better  than  them;  she  gets  along  best. 
But  even  if  she  did  n't,  if  they  used  to  think  her 
bad,  why  do  they  think  her  good  now?"  Of  The 
Gay  Lord  Quex,  a  boy  said:  "The  worst  is  the 
best  and  they  gets  out  best."  Miss  McCracken 
remarks  that  the  boy  had  seen  Hamlet  aright, 
and  did  so,  probably,  in  this. 

With  these  examples  of  Miss  McCracken's 
in  mind,  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  writer  to 
find  out  what  effect  plays  had  produced  on  a  cer- 
tain young  working-girl  who  is  an  inveterate 
theater-goer.  She  was  unable  to  give  any  in- 
stance of  application  in  her  own  life  of  lessons 
gained  at  the  theater,  but  some  of  her  judgments 
and  opinions  are  interesting.    At  first  she  could 

3^ 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ASPECTS 

not  recall  anything  that  had  moved  her  particu- 
larly, except  that,  after  seeing  Uncle  Tom^s 
Cabin,  she  "kept  thinking  of  Eva's  death  all  the 
next  day."  However,  given  time  to  think  back, 
after  a  day  or  so  she  offered  comments  on  other 
plays.  As  Ye  Sow  had  made  an  impression. 
"Mr.  St.  John,"  she  said,  "was  on  the  shore. 
He  was  to  be  married;  all  the  guests  had  arrived, 
the  bride  was  dressed  for  the  ceremony,  but 
a  ship  was  in  danger  at  sea,  and  he  was  willing 
to  pledge  his  own  life."  It  was  a  good  lesson,  she 
thought,  in  unselfishness.  He  had  to  put  off  the 
date  of  his  marriage  to  rescue  the  people.  After 
a  tragedy  she  was  affected  for  ten  or  fifteen  min- 
utes. She  criticized  a  certain  actress  in  the  role 
of  Camille,  "It  was  not  as  effective  as  it  ought 
to  have  been."  She  had  had  more  sympathy  for 
the  woman  when  reading  the  story.  "But  do 
you  think  you  ought  to  have  sympathy  for  her?  " 
she  was  asked.  "Well,  I  think  I  ought;  if  it  was 
n't  her  fault  —  if  she  did  n't  have  a  mother,  and 
was  led  in  and  had  no  one  to  lead  her  out."  Thus  i 
thousands  of  the  masses  are  not  only  gaining  to- 
day their  ideas  of  propriety  and  conventionality,  1 
but  their  interpretations  of  life,  from  the  stage. 
The  fact  that  what  is  seen  at  the  theater  so 
often  becomes  a  moral  guide,  giving  standards 

33 


n 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

for  character  and  conduct  and  definite  instruc- 
tions for  daily  living,  makes  the  justification  of 
crime  upon  the  stage  all  the  more  serious.  In  an 
investigation  reported  by  Miss  Jane  Addams, 
it  was  found  that,  in  a  majority  of  the  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty-six  theaters  of  Chicago  visited 
one  Sunday  evening,  revenge  was  the  leading 
theme.  It  was  estimated  that  one  sixth  of  the 
entire  population  had  attended  the  theaters  on 
that  day.  In  a  series  of  slides  popular  in  one 
of  the  five-cent  theaters,  a  golden-haired  boy  of 
seven  was  represented  as  vowing  vengeance 
upon  house-breakers  who  had  killed  his  father; 
and  after  the  execution  of  each  villain  portrayed 
in  all  its  horrors,  the  little  fellow  was  pictured 
kneeling  upon  his  father's  grave,  and  thanking 
God  for  permitting  this  vengeance. 

Judge  W.  W.  Foster,  of  the  General  Sessions 
.Court,  New  York,  claims  that  the  portrayal  of 
^  jcrime  upon  the  stage  is  dangerous  to  morals  and 
that  it  exercises  a  hypnotic  influence  upon  spec- 
tators. But  the  essence  of  the  drama  is  the  por- 
trayal of  conflict  of  some  sort,  whether,  as  in 
melodrama,  the  strife  is  between  villain  and  hero, 
or,  as  in  drama  of  a  higher  class,  a  moral  conflict 
or  a  battle  between  ideas.  The  danger  from  the 
portrayal  of  crime  upon  the  stage  is  really  de- 

34 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ASPECTS 

pendent  upon  the  purpose  of  the  play  and  the 
method  used  in  accomplishing  it. 

The  writer  has  been  astonished,  at  times,  at 
the  craving  shown  by  women  theater-goers  for 
lurid  representations.  One  woman  of  mild  and 
respectable  appearance,  whom  she  engaged  in 
conversation  during  an  intermission,  intimated 
her  indifference  to  the  play,  and  confessed  to  a 
liking  for  one  ''with  killing  in  it."  Such  an  in- 
stance would  be  discouraging  if  we  did  not  know 
that  though  the  theater  too  often  gratifies  the 
craving  for  morbid  excitement,  it  becomes  at 
times  "  a  veritable  house  of  dreams,"  where  ideals 
are  realized  and  the  longing  for  romance  and  for 
mystery  is  in  a  measure  appeased.  The  majority 
are  best  pleased  by  the  play  which  takes  them 
out  of  their  sordid  daily  life ;  and  starved  imagi- 
nations are  led  to  accept  the  picturing  of  most 
improbable  happenings.  If  its  ministration  on 
the  side  of  good  could  but  gain  the  upper  hand, 
it  is  impossible  to  estimate  all  that  could  be 
accomplished  in  the  line  of  moral  and  civic 
regeneration. 

The  decisions  of  the  officials  who  license  shows 
are  too  often  characterized  by  a  disposition  to- 
please  and  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  de- 
mands of  the  public  will  and  taste,  rather  than 

35 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

up  to  a  cultural  standard.  But  in  their  defense 
we  must  say  that,  from  the  very  number  of  the 
plays  submitted,  the  power  of  discrimination 
becomes  weakened.  Also  a  play  may  be  chosen 
not  for  its  intrinsic  but  its  relative  merits;  in 
other  words,  it  is  found  tolerably  good  compared 
with  those  that  are  more  obviously  vicious.  In 
a  certain  New  England  city  the  president  of  a 
^' Watch  and  Ward  Society"  tried  to  guard  public 
morals  against  offensive  bill-boards,  and  to  in- 
form the  police  of  things  that  were  of  improper 
character.  Pictures  in  art  stores  were  subject 
to  investigation;  and  it  was  agreed  that  the 
society's  representative  should  pass  judgment 
upon  penny  pictures.  The  agent,  a  clergyman, 
who  was  also  agent  for  a  Temperance  Associa- 
tion and  a  Public  Purity  Association,  was  em- 
ployed, besides,  to  go  to  theaters  for  the  purpose 
of  listening  to  and  criticizing  plays.  It  was  under- 
stood that  anything  to  which  he  objected  should 
be  cut  out  by  the  police.  He  said  that  many 
times  actors  had  had  their  cue,  and  certain  things 
usually  included  in  a  performance  were  sup- 
pressed when  he  was  present.  This  agent  is  said 
to  have  stated,  with  *' evidence  of  pain,"  that 
his  taste  had  become  vitiated;  and  the  chairman 
of  the  police  commission  would  seem  to  have 

36 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ASPECTS 

corroborated  this  view,  when,  laughing  about  a 
controversy  over  some  of  ^the  pictures,  he  told 
how  he  had  thrown  out  twelve  that  the  clergy- 
man had  passed.  If  a  clergyman  and  citizen 
of  recognized  good  standing  acknowledges  a 
vitiation  of  his  taste  from  constantly  seeing  vice 
depicted  on  the  stage,  it  is  well  to  realize  the 
significance  of  its  effect  upon  impressionable 
young  minds  and  hearts.  To  face  the  problem 
of  the  day  and  guard  the  young,  we  must  employ 
not  destructive  methods  only,  such  as  a  more 
rigid  censorship  and  the  like,  nor  even  keep  chil- 
dren from  the  theater,  but  rather  turn  our  ener- 
gies to  work  of  more  constructive  character. 


IV 

DRAMATIC  WORK  IN  SCHOOLS  AND  COLLEGES 

Within  a  few  years  there  has  been  almost  an 
epidemic  of  interest  in  dramatization  as  a  part 
of  primary-school  work.  In  the  lower  grades  of 
public  schools,  teachers  have  been  setting  chil- 
dren to  act  out  stories  previously  read  or  told  to 
them,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  greater  freedom 
"^  and  spontaneity  of  expression.  It  is  difficult  to 
say  where  this  practice  started,  but  certain  it  is 
that  it  has  had  a  phenomenally  rapid  rise.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  recent  developments  of  interest 
in  child  nature,  and  follows  naturally  on  that 
which  was  aroused  in  kindergarten  work  and 
school  hygiene,  and  later  by  the  establishment 
of  playgrounds  and  oversight  of  children's  play 
both  in  recreation  and  school  hours. 

In  many  cities  the  introduction  of  this  work, 
as  well  as  the  amount  of  time  given  to  it,  has  been 
left  largely  to  the  discretion  of  individual  teachers; 
in  others,  it  is  compulsory  and  has  been  reduced 
to  a  definite  system.  In  a  small  city  of  Massa- 
chusetts, it  has  been  introduced  as  part  of  a 

38 


DRAMATIC  WORK  IN   SCHOOLS 

method  of  teaching  reading,  the  bare  outline  of 
which  is  as  follows:  first,  the  story;  second,  a  Hst 
of  rhymes  to  furnish  the  stock  in  trade  of  words ; 
third,  pictures  that  illustrate  the  story;  fourth, 
and  last,  dramatization,  that  is,  the  simple  act- 
ing out  of  the  story  told  by  the  teacher.  The 
idea  is  to  fill  the  children  so  full  of  the  story  that 
they  will  want  to  act  it  out,  but  not  Jo  letjhem 
memorizein  preparation.  So  long  as  the  spirit 
and  idea  of  the  story  are  preserved,  the  children 
may  use  their  own  words  to  reproduce  it.  They 
need,  at  first,  not  only  suggestion,  but  help  in 
the  work.  Gradually,  however,  this  is  withdrawn, 
or  should  be  if  the  teacher  keeps  in  view  the 
development  of  self-reliance  in  the  pupil. 

Many  teachers,  entirely  inexperienced  in  this 
work,  at  first  meet  with  difficulties,  and  the  ten- 
dency to  render  mechanical  what  should  be 
spontaneous  is  all  too  common.  There  is  great 
temptation  to  aim  at  a  finished  product,  and 
many  an  excuse  or  apology  is  offered  to  visitors 
for  crude  performances.  Those  who  best  under- 
stand the  aim  and  purpose  of  the  work  empha- 
size the  points  that  the  same  story  or  poem  should 
not  be  given  out  for  dramatization  too  fre- 
quently, and  that  the  same  children  should  not 
be  chosen  for  the  same  parts.    The  individual 

39       ' 


DRAMATIC   INSTINCT   IN   EDUCATION 

differences  and  mental  attitude  of  the  children 
are  to  be  considered,  the  over-forward  or  super- 
cilious child  judiciously  dealt  with,  and  the  awk- 
ward, bashful,  sensitive  child  particularly  en- 
couraged, brought  out,  given  confidence,  and 
stimulated  to  wholesome  competition. 

The  influence  of  the  schoolroom  is  almost 
invariably  inhibitory,  but  repression  and  indif- 
ference disappear  when  the  acting  of  a  story 
is  in  progress.  To  see  faces  instantly  kindle 
with  animation,  hands  wave  frantically  when  a 
teacher  says,  ''Now,  would  you  like  to  act 
out  something?"  —  to  hear  one  voice  say, 
"Oh,  yes";  another,  "Just  love  to";  to  see 
the  eagerness  to  be  chosen  for  a  part  is  to 
see  interest  aroused,  such  as  is  without  rival 
during  school  hours  —  an  interest  which  puts 
even  that  favorite  school  diversion  of  past 
generations,  the  spelling  -  match,  far  in  the 
background.  Disappointment  inevitably  ap- 
pears on  the  faces  of  those  not  chosen  for 
roles,  but  it  soon  changes  into  sheer  absorption 
in  what  the  others  are  doing.  Not  infrequently 
all  the  children  of  a  schoolroom  can  take  part 
in  a  play;  as  in  The  Pied  Piper,  when,  as  rat  or 
child,  the  motor  energy  of  every  young  aspirant 
may  find  expression.    Surely  when  one  sees  the 

40 


DRAMATIC  WORK  IN  SCHOOLS 

joy  and  delight  this  acting,  considered  merely 
as  play  or  healthful  exercise  of  mind  and  body, 
gives  to  the  children,  dramatization  as  a  part 
of  school  work  should  find  justification.  But  it 
is  not  yet  universal.  Many  children  are  new  to 
anything  of  the  kind;  what  is  yet  more  of  an 
impediment  to  good  results,  teachers  are  also 
new  to  it;  and  some  of  them,  because  of  the  very 
lack  of  similar  training  in  their  own  youth,  are 
stiff  and  mechanical  in  method.  It  is  the  teacher, 
naturally,  who  must  lead  in  breaking  through 
the  restraint-and  conventionality  of  the  school- 
room. To  some,  the  opportunity  for  doing  this 
is  welcome.  But  the  teacher  who  is  not  sensible 
of  the  advantages  of  delicate  sentiment  and  sug- 
gestion, who  bases  her  instruction  on  hard,  def- 
inite statement  of  fact  only,  who  would  sacrifice 
spirit  and  originality  for  overexact  reproductions 
of  content,  is  little  likely  to  succeed  in  work  of 
this  character.  That  some  teachers  are  intro- 
ducing it  because  it  is  prescribed,  treating  it  as  a 
subject  which  they  wish  to  bring  up  to  the  stand- 
ard of  efficiency  of  other  required  school  work, 
but  the  pedagogical  importance  of  which  they 
have  not  grasped,  is  sometimes  very  apparent, 
and  is  an  inevitable  result  of  an  often  too  great 
mechanization  in  school  curricula.  Ask  teachers 

41 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

what  effects  they  have  noticed  from  the  work, 
and,  for  some  of  them,  the  question  seems  to  be 
raised  for  the  first  time.  Others,  however,  say 
that  they  have  noticed  greater  freedom  in  the 
use  of  English  both  in  reciting  and  in  conversa- 
tion. This  would  seem  to  be  especially  true  of 
foreign-born  children.  According  to  one  teacher 
two  Norwegian  boys,  who  had  never  amounted 
to  anything  in  school,  got  their  start  from  drama- 
tizing and  had  been  able  ever  since  to  do  good 
work.  Some  enthusiastic  teachers  are  perhaps 
overemphasizing  one  phase  of  it,  making  such 
a  point  of  expression  as  to  produce  a  result,  pos- 
sibly only '  temporary ,  verging  on  the  unnatural 
or  artificial.  Doubtless  the  pendulum  must 
swing  far  both  ways  before  teachers  adjust  them- 
selves to  a  method  for  which  natural  endowment 
and  education  may  have  sparingly  equipped 
them. 

As  the  grades  ascend,  one  finds  less  and  less 
dramatizing  introduced  into  primary  -  school 
work,  and  in  the  grammar  school  the  attention 
paid  to  it  is  almost  nil.  There  are  so  many  re- 
quired studies  that  time  is  lacking  for  work  not 
yet  standardized;  and  what  is  relatively  unim- 
portant because  not  demanded  for  promotion 
can  receive  but  scant  attention.  That  the  age  of 

42 


DRAMATIC  WORK  IN  SCHOOLS 

self-consciousness  begins  after  the  first  primary- 
school  grades  are  passed  is  a  reason,  perhaps, 
why  precisely  the  same  sort  of  dramatic  expres- 
sion should  not  find  place  in  grammar  schools; 
but  that  all  dramatic  work  should  cease  until 
high  school  is  reached  (at  which  stage  it  is  quite 
the  practice  in  many  cities  to  give  school  plays) 
is  unpedagogical,  since  irregular  and  unsystema- 
tized practice  is  of  little  benefit.  That  there 
should  be  such  a  break  and  no  tiding-over  the 
awkwardness  which  frequently  develops  in  later 
childhood,  and  that  what  has  been  gained  in  the 
first  grades  should  be  allowed  to  lose  much  of  its 
effect  through  neglect,  is  to  be  regretted;  since  it 
is  difficult,  and  in  some  cases  impossible,  to  re- 
vive an  instinct  which  has  once  degenerated  by 
disuse.  To  bridge  this  self-conscious  period,  the 
literary  study  of  drama  might  be  introduced,  the 
training  of  the  imaginative  and  the  analytical 
faculty,  and  the  learning  to  read  a  drama  not 
as  a  story  merely,  but  so  dramatically  as  to 
bring  out  clearly  its  purpose  and  action. 

Even  the  practice  of  play-giving  in  high  schools, 
in  many  cities  where  it  is  the  rule,  often  needs 
reconstructing.  The  best  students  in  English 
are  usually  chosen  for  the  play.  Mildly  suggest 
to  a  teacher  who  acknowledges  this  that  the  poor 

43 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

students  of  English  may  be  the  very  ones  who 
most  need  this  work,  and  the  stereotyped  answer 
is  that  these  cannot  afford  the  time  for  it.  Then, 
too,  the  idea  of  the  finished  product  is  so  much 
in  mind  that  a  play  is  cast  with  reference  to  it, 
V  and  with  some  justice,  since  regard  must  be  had 
for  the  benefit  to  be  derived  by  pupils  who  are 
spectators  as  well  as  by  those  who  actively  take 
part.  To  obviate  this  difficulty  classwork  for  all, 
followed  by  competition  and  arrangement  of 
parts,  may  be  suggested. 

In  one  high  school  known  to  the  writer  there 
is  an  English  club  of  limited  membership,  only 
the  best  students  in  English  being  chosen  for  it. 
Play-giving  was  found  a  necessary  condition  of 
the  club's  existence,  as  interest  in  its  work  could 
not  be  kept  up  otherwise.  The  teacher  of  the 
school  in  question  states  that  the  effect  of  the 
few  members  of  this  club  upon  her  whole  room 
is  leavening;  they  act  as  leaders;  and  their  good 
reading,  marked  by  freedom  and  self-confidence, 
gives  confidence  to  others. 

That  a  few  teachers  are  fully  alive  to  the  value 
of  dramatic  work  in  education  is  as  true  as  that 
many  are  indifferent  to  it.  One  has  only  to  talk 
with  grammar  and  high-school  principals  to  dis- 
cover that  at  least  three  distinct  attitudes  are 

44 


DRAMATIC  WORK  IN  SCHOOLS 

evident:  First,  quite  a  large  number  of  these 
principals  have  given  the  matter  little  thought 
and  attention;  second,  some  have  considered  it 
but  are  opposed  to  it;  third,  still  others  believe 
in  the  practice  of  play-giving  in  school,  introduce 
it  into  their  work,  and,  unhke  some  of  the  pri- 
mary-school teachers,  are  ready  with  their  rea- 
sons for  thoroughly  indorsing  it.  In  the  first 
class  may  be  mentioned  a  grammar-school  prin- 
cipal of  a  New  England  city  who,  when  inter- 
viewed, laughed  and  said  in  substance:  "Why, 
yes,  I  believe  in  anything  pupils  can  do  that  is 
pleasant;  I  do  not  object  to  anything  in  the 
line  of  school  work  which  does  not  impede  the 
natural  development  of  the  child.  If  under  good 
influences  he  does  nothing  but  play,  it  is  all  right. 
I  agree  with  Hughes,  of  Toronto, '  that  children 
have  a  good  deal  to  contend  with  —  who  have 
to  go  to  school.'  "  So  very  broad  a  view,  however, 
can  hardly  be  given  as  typical  of  any  consider- 
able class  of  teachers. 

Of  the  second  class,  I  cite  a  grammar-school 
principal  who  said  that  he  did  not  believe  in 
school  plays  nor  theater-going,  for  the  main  rea- 
son that  children's  minds  are  already  too  much 
taken  up  with  outside  work.  School  work  should 
be  kept  in  steady  lines,  he  thought;  otherwise 

45 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

there  was  dissipation  of  energy.  Another  prin- 
cipal said  that  he  had  a  play  given  annually  in 
his  school,  choosing  one  for  its  value  in  historical 
suggestion,  moral  influence,  dramatic  merit, 
etc.,  but  he  guards  his  young  people  carefully, 
as  he  has  noticed  elsewhere  the  bad  effects  upon 
adolescent  boys  and  girls  of  practicing  together. 
They  have  outgrown  the  innocent,  unconscious 
age  and  need  most  careful  oversight.  It  is  a 
dangerous  time  to  bring  young  people  of  oppo- 
site sexes  together,  nor  does  he  believe  in  making 
artificial  the  emotion  which  should  be  the  most 
sacred  thing  in  life.  He  would  stimulate  young 
people  to  highest  regard  and  love  of  the  opposite 
sex,  but  by  judicious  teaching  and  restraint.  A 
boy  who  had  left  school  because  of  his  inability, 
through  interest  in  the  other  sex,  or  rather,  in 
one  of  his  girl  companions,  to  apply  himself 
properly  to  his  studies,  when  re-admitted  to  the 
school,  said  he  was  **  over  it."  Taken  at  his  word, 
he  soon  proved  his  ability  to  do  good  work.  A 
premature  love  -  affair  had  absolutely  barred 
progress  in  school.  There  is  always  an  element 
in  every  school  that  inclines  toward  the  bad,  and 
he  does  not  believe  in  putting  much  that  can 
be  misinterpreted  in  the  way  of  boys. 

In  the  third   class  may  be  placed  a  ninth- 

46 


DRAMATIC  WORK  IN   SCHOOLS 

grade  grammar-school  teacher  and  principal  who 
said,  in  speaking  of  dramatic  work,  ''I  think 
it  revolutionizes  a  class  as  nothing  else  will,  and 
that  any  teacher  can  find  time  in  school  for  work 
that  she  really  thinks  important."  On  my  visit 
to  her  school,  this  teacher  had  her  class  go  to  the 
assembly  hall,  where  some  of  the  pupils  gave,  for 
my  benefit,  scenes  from  several  plays  they  had 
been  studying.  These  pupils  had  never  rehearsed 
together,  as  the  teacher  does  not  ordinarily 
throw  boys  and  girls  together  for  rehearsals. 
They  had  learned  a  great  many  parts,  boys  and 
girls  taking  those  of  men  or  women  indiscrimi- 
nately. The  scenes  called  for  at  this  time  were 
from  the  Merchant  of  Venice  and  Julius  Ccesar. 
Two  pupils  were  chosen  for  the  same  part,  ar- 
ranging with  each  other  where  the  first  should 
leave  off  and  the  second  begin.  The  order,  facil-. 
ity,  and  alertness  of  the  children  in  disposing  of 
these  and  other  preliminaries,  and  their  ease  in 
impersonating  the  different  roles,  showed  plainly 
the  effect  of  the  work  in  developing  initiative 
and  giving  confidence.  Their  enjoyment  in  the. 
whole  proceeding  v/as  contagious.  It  brought 
vividly  to  mind,  by  contrast,  other  schoolroom 
scenes  in  which  children  had  been  distressed  and 
even  tearful  because  of  a  stranger's  presence. 

47 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

Some  of  the  effects  of  the  work  are  amusing 
as  well  as  interesting.  A  mother  said  that  so 
great  was  the  interest  of  her  child  in  dramatic 
work  that  everybody  in  the  family  had  been 
made  to  act.  The  father  could  not  get  away  for 
a  trip  to  New  York,  the  servant  girl  took  part, 
and  finally  even  the  baby  was  made  to  represent 
"a  dirty  little  pig/'  In  another  family  every- 
body had  become  interested  in  the  dramatic  work 
which  was  engrossing  the  child  of  the  household; 
even  the  father,  who  was  one  day  found  in  liis 
room  reading  the  Merchant  of  Venice.  In  an- 
other case,  a  father  who  had  been  interested  in 
the  theater  in  his  youth  to  the  extent  of  being 
"super"  for  great  actors  on  several  occasions, 
after  his  marriage  to  a  woman  whose  taste  ran 
in  different  lines  had  lost  his  liking  for  high-class 
drama  and  had  since  gone  to  the  theater  only  for 
amusement.  But  when  one  day  his  son  began 
the  speech  of  Antony,  the  father  took  it  up,  re- 
citing it  to  the  end,  and  from  that  time  showed 
an  interest  in  the  boy's  progress  and  rehearsed 
his  parts  with  him.  Later,  even  the  mother's 
interest  was  aroused  and  she  did  the  same. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  case  was  that  of 
an  incorrigible  schoolboy  who  scuffed  his  feet 
and  did  everything  to  annoy.   There  seemed  to 

48 


DRAMATIC  WORK  IN  SCHOOLS 

be  no  way  of  appealing  to  him,  and  his  teacher 
almost  despaired.  Finally  he  took  part  in  a  play 
and  made  a  great  success  of  his  role  —  a  comic 
one.  The  teacher  laughed  heartily  at  his  per- 
formance, and  from  that  time  the  boy  was  won. 
He  lost  his  sullen  look,  and  showed  quite  a  dif- 
ferent side  of  his  nature;  and  even  after  his  pro- 
motion to  high  school,  he  remained  the  devoted 
friend  of  his  earlier  teacher. 

The  enthusiasm  shown  by  this  ninth -grade 
teacher,  and  her  manner  of  exhibiting  the  dra- 
matic work  of  her  pupils  to  a  visitor  within  regu- 
lar school  hours,  are  almost  paralleled  in  an  inci- 
dent which  especially  impressed  Mr.  A.  Caswell 
Ellis  on  his  visit  to  French  schools,  and  which  I 
quote  from  his  article.  The  principal  of  a  com- 
mon school  in  Paris  broke  up  several  classes  to 
have  a  large  number  of  pupils  go  into  the  audi- 
torium and  give  a  play  they  had  themselves  written 
of  heroic  and  classic  type.  The  children,  aged 
from  ten  to  fourteen,  had  planned  the  stage- 
setting,  made  helmets,  breastplates,  etc.  They 
acted  it  out  after  their  own  ideas  with  great  en- 
thusiasm and  intensity.  The  principal  of  the 
school  was  most  enthusiastic  about  it,  and  said, 
*'Ah,  it  takes  a  lot  of  time;  but  it  is  of  more 
worth  than  the  learning  of  whole  pages  of  some 

49 


^ 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

Kterature  book.  What  we  want  is  to  make  these 
boys  sensitive  to  the  things  around  them,  to  the 
beauties  of  plot,  of  expression,  of  thought;  and 
this  attempt  to  do  something  themselves  and 
their  appreciation  of  the  beauties  of  their  own 
work  will  make  them  more  sympathetic  and  more 
sensitive  to  the  beauties  of  the  great  masters." 

In  the  Pierce  School,  Brookline,  Massachu- 
setts, thirty  minutes  are  given  each  week  to  such 
dramatics,  in  which  pupils  may  work  out  any- 
thing they  please.  In  their  play-giving  the  stage- 
setting  is  largely  the  result  of  their  own  inge- 
nuity. Children  dramatize  familiar  stories  and 
have  an  idea  of  the  action  required  and  know 
all  the  parts  of  the  play.  The  work  has  proved 
valuable  in  giving  an  initiative  which  has  mani- 
fested itself  variously.  In  thus  working  together 
the  children,  it  is  claimed,  lose  all  sense  of  class 
distinction,  and  the  daughter  of  the  scrub-wo- 
man and  the  little  girl  who  comes  to  school  in  an 
automobile  labor  together,  and  so  become  friends. 

Mr.  W.  E.  Chancellor  is  among  the  educators 
who  are  earnest  believers  in  the  value  of  drama- 
tizing school  work.  Lower-grade  pupils  will  get 
valuable  practice,  he  thinks,  by  dramatizing 
problems  in  arithmetic;  and  the  telling  or  read- 
ing of  a  story,  and  letting  children  work  it  out 

50 


DRAMATIC  WORK   IN   SCHOOLS 

dramatically,  he  also  considers  especially  useful 
in  history  and  literature.  In  his  Class  Teaching 
and  Management  he  says :  — ■ 

Learning  verbatim  a  good  account  of  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg  is  quite  a  different  thing  from  learning 
it  dramatically  in  a  lesson  in  which  Seminary  Ridge 
and  Cemetery  Ridge  are  represented  by  rows  of  fur- 
niture and  a  charge  of  Pickett's  men  acted  out  by 
the  learners  themselves.  In  the  first  case,  one  learns 
the  story  and  how  to  tell  it  in  words.  In  the  second 
instance,  he  feels  the  emotions  of  that  great  event. 
The  difference  is  that  between  Uterary  accomplish- 
ments and  dramatic  or  practical  efl&ciency.  It  is 
narrative,  even  picturing  in  words,  over  against 
reahzation.  .  .  .  The  trend  of  modern  educational 
method  is  so  strongly  in  the  direction  of  learning  by 
doing,  whenever  this  method  of  learning  is  feasible, 
that  it  is  well  to  see  clearly  that  this  method  amounts 
to  a  rediscovery  of  the  place  of  working  efficiency 
among  the  ideals  of  education.  It  had  long  been 
forgotten  from  an  overcare  for  intelligence  alone. 

The  introduction  of  dramatic  work  into  schools 
is  not  confined  to  the  United  States  and  France. 
Even  in  England,  where  until  recently  school 
regime  was  so  seldom  relaxed,  dramatization  of 
school  lessons  is  sometimes  practiced.  In  the 
Sompting  Elementary  School  in  Essex,  for  ex- 
ample, lessons  by  means  of  acting  are  made  more 

51 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

real  and  vivid  for  children  whenever  possible. 
Indeed,  the  "dramatic"  method  might  be  called 
the  method  of  the  school;  and  while  it  has  been 
productive  of  excellent  results,  it  is  difficult  to 
say  how  far  these  are  due  to  the  genius  of  the 
particular  teacher  in  charge.  In  the  teaching  of 
history,  scenes  from  historical  novels  and  origi- 
nal plays,  material  for  which  is  taken  directly 
from  books  of  history,  are  acted.  Literature  is 
learned  by  acting  the  content  of  a  poem  which 
has  been  either  previously  recited  or  given  simply 
in  dumb  show;  as  also  scenes  from  the  Pickwick 
Papers,  in  which,  according  to  Miss  Finley- 
Johnston,  head-mistress  of  the  school,  the  intel- 
lect of  a  dunce  has  been  sharpened  by  having 
him  impersonate  Mr.  Winkle.  In  teaching  geo- 
graphy, dialogue  between  inhabitants  of  different 
localities  is  resorted  to,  or  pseudo-travelers  im- 
part information  while  acting  out  appropriately 
the  customs  and  occupations  of  the  place  de- 
scribed. For  lessons  in  arithmetic,  the  question- 
and-answer  method  is  employed,  and  the  play 
involves  buying  and  selling.  Practice  in  com- 
position and  letter-writing  is  obtained  by  means 
of  a  game  in  which  one  pupil,  impersonating 
a  merchant  in  need  of  an  office  boy,  writes  an 
advertisement,  to  which  the  other  pupils  each 

52 


DRAMATIC  WORK  IN  SCHOOLS 

reply.  In  nature  study,  flowers  are  made  to  talk; 
while  in  manual  training,  boys  build  the  shed 
used  in  a  particular  game,  excavate  flints  and 
marl  from  their  playgroimd  to  form  a  garden, 
etc.,  while  girls  play  at  keeping  dressmakers' 
shop  in  learning  how  to  sew.  Surely,  this  is  carry- 
ing a  method  to  extremes. 

In  colleges  and  universities  in  recent  years 
there  has  been  a  development  of  dramatic  work 
that  has  tended  to  raise  it  from  the  level  of  mere 
amusement  and  pastime  to  an  educational  factor, 
and  given  it  a  dignity  and  importance  which  it 
has  not  hitherto  possessed.  For  years  students 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  giving  farces  for  their 
own  amusement  and  for  the  entertainment  of 
their  friends,  and  have  had  clubs  which  existed 
for  the  purpose.  It  has  been  customary,  too,  for 
different  academic  departments  to  give  plays 
at  intervals,  and  for  graduating  classes  to  make 
them  features  of  their  commencement  programs. 
These  attempts  have  been  of  increasingly  ambi- 
tious character,  and  in  many  instances  so  credit- 
able in  result  as  to  receive  approval  and  com- 
mendation from  college  faculties.  Most  of  my 
readers  will  be  tolerably  familiar  with  work  of 
the  kind. 

Harvard  has  its  societies  which  give  old  Eng- 

•      53 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN   EDUCATION 

lish  as  well  as  French  and  German  plays,  and 
it  was  the  first  college  to  attempt  a  Greek  play 
on  an  ambitious  scale.  The  work  of  its  Cercle 
Frangais  has  become  well  known.  For  nearly 
twenty  years  it  has  been  giving  French  plays, 
and  its  reputation  for  them  has  been  carried 
across  the  water.  M.  Gofflot,  in  his  book  Le 
Theatre  au  College  du  Moyen  Age  d  nos  Jours, 
has  tried  to  show  the  decided  influence  of  the 
theater  on  education,  and  claims  that  the  Cercle 
Frangais  of  Harvard  has  done  much  to  that  end. 

At  Yale,  students  take  an  active  interest  in 
play-giving.  They  have  an  association  formed  for 
the  purpose  which  furthers  in  various  ways  the 
study  of  drama,  procuring  distinguished  actors 
and  students  of  drama  as  lecturers,  engaging  the 
Ben  Greet  Company  to  give  performances,  etc. 
It  has,  moreover,  furnished  a  model  for  similar 
organizations  throughout  the  country,  and  is  said 
to  fill  a  ^'distinct,  legitimate  educational  func- 
tion." 

In  the  state  universities  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
and  California,  and  in  numerous  others,  there 
is  great  interest  in  play-giving  and  serious  work 
and  study  in  connection  with  it.  The  University 
of  California  has  an  outdoor  theater,  modeled 
on  that  of  the  Dionysius  Theater  in  Greece,  and 

•  ■  "54         ■    '     '- 


DRAMATIC  WORK  IN  SCHOOLS 

a  professional  actor  in  charge  of  dramatic  train- 
ing; while  at  the  head  of  the  English  department 
is  a  well-known  student  of  drama. 

In  a  number  of  the  colleges  for  women,  plays 
are  given  by  student  societies  during  the  year, 
and  those  of  graduating  classes  are  of  a  high 
order.  The  outdoor  plays  of  Wellesley  are  now 
famous.  Smith  College,  since  it  gave  its  Greek 
play  more  than  two  decades  ago,  has  had  each 
year  a  performance  of  ambitious  character.  A 
professional  trainer  is  employed,  and  the  senior 
dramatics  have  become  an  event  which  draws 
critics  of  drama  annually. 

In  many  universities  plays  are  among  the 
pleasing  features  of  commencement  week,  and 
represent  careful  and  conscientious  study,  usually 
of  a  masterpiece ;  for  while  faculties  do  not  insist 
upon  it,  they  of  course  favor  the  giving  of  some- 
thing of  acknowledged  educational  worth. 

The  character  of  some  of  the  Hterary  courses 
offered  now  by  colleges  is  significant  in  this  con- 
nection; for  interest  in  the  study  of  drama  as  a 
distinctive  literary  type  has  greatly  developed 
in  the  last  twenty  years,  as  shown  by  the  number 
of  editions  of  early  English  and  other  plays  now 
in  the  market;  also  by  the  fact  that  some  of  the 
imiversities  include  with  the  study  of  drama, 

55 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN   EDUCATION 

dramatic  criticism  and  technique,  the  study  of 
modern  and  contemporary  plays,  and  practice 
in  writing  plays.  The  University  of  Minnesota 
gives  practice  in  play-writing  in  its  composition 
courses,  and  the  two  universities  in  California 
offer  prizes  for  the  writing  of  farces.  In  Tufts 
College  the  course  in  English  includes  the  writ- 
ing of  one,  two,  and  three  act  plays,  and  that  of 
Cornell,  the  study  of  dramatic  structure  and  a 
weekly  two-hour  course  in  play-writing.  At  Bryn 
Mawr  both  graduate  and  undergraduate  courses 
now  include  a  study  of  dramatic  technique  and 
practice  in  dramatic  composition.  Professor 
Baker,  of  Harvard,  and  others  introduce  prac- 
tice in  play-writing  into  their  courses,  and  the 
study  of  drama  has  developed  from  tame  interest 
into  vigorous  incentive.  The  value  to  students 
of  substituting  genuinely  creative  work  for  what 
is  too  often  merely  hypercritical  and  unproduc- 
tive is  readily  apparent,  and  already  the  practical 
results  are  most  encouraging.  Quite  a  number  of 
plays  written  by  students  have  been  accepted  re- 
cently by  professionals,  and  in  some  cases  have 
had  a  long  and  popular  run.  The  possibility  of 
developing  in  this  way  playwrights,  who  will  help 
to  shape  what  may  one  day  become  a  national 
type  of  drama,  is  promising. 

S6 


DRAMATIC  WORK  IN   SCHOOLS 

In  none  of  the  colleges  does  the  presentation  i\\ 
of  dramas  yet  find  a  recognized  place  in  the  cur-  l|  f 
riculum;  and  considering  the  ideas  that  have  long 
prevailed  in  college  faculties  as  to  what  is  or  is 
not  "academic,"  one  would  scarcely  expect  that 
play-acting  would  find  place  in  official  cata- 
logues.  Still,  ideas  of  the  scope  of  college  work 
are  broadening,  so  that  under  its  own  or  a  more 
euphemistic  head  it  is  not  impossible  that  it  yet 
may  find  recognition.    Frequently,  college  in- 
structors in  elocution  and  physical  educators  - 
coach  the  cast  in  the  preliminary  stages  of  train- 
ing, if  not  throughout  the  preparation  of  a  play, 
but  there  has  been  no  successful  effort  to  gain 
''credit"  for  students  for  work  done  in  plays.  [ 
In  consequence,  the  full  possibilities  of  dramatic    1 
training  as  a  college  discipline  have  by  no  means     \ 
been  realized.      The  benefits  have  been  confined 
to  a  comparatively  few  students;  although  usu- 
ally many  more  than  those  who  actually  take  part 
in  a  given  play  take  advantage  of  the  training 
because  of  their  enjoyment  of  it  and  realization 
of  its  value.    Frequently  those  who  have  taken 
part  in  college  dramatics  look  back  in  after  years 
and  acknowledge  all  that  the  training  did  for 
them;  the  beneficial  results  of  it  for  voice,  poise,    j/ 
and  movement,  as  well  as  of  the  dancing  exer- 

57 


[ 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

cises,  which  are  a  part  of  a  ^'Hmbering-up"  proc- 
ess often  so  thorough  as  to  tire  the  hardened 
football  player,  have  been  noted  by  many  indi- 
vidual teachers.  Members  of  the  faculty  fre- 
quently express  their  appreciation  of  what  such 
training  does  for  students;  and  it  is  often  a  mat- 
ter of  surprise  to  them  how  many  hitherto  un- 
noticed members  of  their  classes  are  ''brought 
out"  by  a  play.  Not  only  do  they  realize  the 
value  of  the  training  as  seen  in  mere  outward 
expression,  but  they  favor  play-giving  because 
of  the  students'  gain  through  close  acquaintance 
with  the  thought  and  purpose,  the  melodious 
and  rhythmic  phrasing,  and  the  concise  state- 
ment of  great  writers;  lastly,  because  it  serves 
y^   for  the  training  of  character  in  general. 

But  certain  additional  reasons  for  the  more 
systematic  use  of  college  dramatics  suggest 
themselves,  such  as  have  long  been  recognized 
by  the  Jesuits,  who  in  their  colleges  have  made 
great  use  of  the  drama.  They  realize  that  stu- 
dents must  have  occupation  for  the  mind  apart 
from  work,  something  besides  the  sterner  studies 
for  rehef  and  relaxation.  They  recognize  that 
during  winter  months,  when  outdoor  or  athletic 
exercise  is  not  always  possible,  the  preparation 
for  a  play  keeps  young  people  interested  and 

58 


w 


DRAMATIC  WORK  IN  SCHOOLS! 

employed,   giving  an  outlet  for  energies  and  / 
emotions  such  as  would  not  be  afforded  by  per- 
functory physical  and  mental  training,  and  serv- 
ing also  as  a  moral  prophylactic. 

As  time  goes  on,  and  more  and  more  the  value 
of  dramatics  as  a  many-sided  culture  and  dis- 
cipline is  realized,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  all  col- 
lege students  will  benefit  by  privileges  that  are 
now  reserved  for  comparatively  few.  Could  the 
cast  which  presents  the  commencement  play  be 
but  one  of  many  that,  during  the  four  years' 
college  course,  have  had  the  advantage  of  the 
high-grade  professional  training  more  and  more 
engaged  for  "senior  plays,'*  then  would  the  em- 
phasis be  placed  where  it  belongs,  —  on  the  edu-  ( 
cational  features  of  the  work,  rather  than  upon  \ 
the  production  of  a  single  performance  however 
beautiful  and  inspiring  in  itself. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  EFFORTS  TO  PROVIDE 
GOOD  DRAMA 

We  naturally  look  to  Germany  as  a  leader  in 
matters  pertaining  to  education;  let  us  note 
what  she  is  doing  to  satisfy  the  dramatic  instinct 
and  turn  it  to  account  educationally. 

In  a  country  where  the  stage  is  less  superficial 
than  with  us  and  more  nearly  approaches  church 
and  school  as  a  great  cultural  factor,  it  is  not 
surprising  to  find  that  greater  actual  provision 
is  made  for  high-grade  theater  performances  at 
moderate  cost.  In  various  German  cities,  during 
the  season,  a  repertoire  of  half  a  dozen  or  more 
standard  plays  is  given;  and  in  most  if  not  all  of 
the  German  capitals,  there  are  subsidized  theaters 
belonging  either  to  the  State  or  to  the  Crown. 
BerUn  among  its  forty  or  more  theaters  has  three 
such  play  -  houses,  which  by  royal  command 
regularly  give  performances  at  special  rates  for 
families  of  the  working-classes.  The  expenses 
considerably  exceed  the  receipts,  but  the  Kaiser 
pays  the  deficit.  In  other  cities  certain  theaters, 

60 


EFFORTS  TO  PROVIDE  GOOD  DRAMA 

in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  their  licenses, 
periodically  give  at  reduced  prices  plays  expressly 
chosen  for  children.  Thus,  instead  of  being  left 
to  seek  the  cheapest  form  of  indiscriminate  enter- 
tainment, children  are  taken  from  time  to  time 
by  the  principals  of  their  schools  or  other  teachers 
to  the  better  class  of  performances.  The  attitude 
of  German  educators  toward  theater  -  going  is 
peculiarly  favorable;  but  it  is  largely  due  to  the 
efforts  of  teachers'  associations  in  the  different 
cities  that  free  performances  for  school  children 
have  become  the  rule.  In  Bremen  and  Hamburg, 
through  their  teachers'  associations,  private  in- 
dividuals have  been  prevailed  upon  to  defray 
the  cost  of  classic  plays  given  in  the  Stadt  Thea- 
ter especially  for  pupils  of  the  Volksschule;  and 
in  Dresden,  a  similar  series  has  been  established 
for  pupils  of  the  higher  classes.  To  each  play, 
sixty  pupils  chosen  by  lot  are  taken  at  a  time. 
The  performances  are  given  regularly  in  the 
spring  months,  the  time  thus  employed  being 
deducted  from  that  formerly  devoted  to  the  Ger- 
man language.  Each  teacher  and  child  pays 
twenty-five  Pfennige  ($0.06),  but  the  greater 
part  of  the  cost  is  met  by  a  royal  subsidy  of  one 
thousand  Marks  ($250).  In  the  higher  schools 
surplus  tickets  for  the  best  classical  plays  are 

61 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

sold  to  pupils  for  one  Mark  ($0.25)  each.  In 
Berlin,  for  some  years  past  the  Schiller  Theater 
has  been  able,  through  the  cooporation  of  city 
officials,  to  give  ten  performances  yearly  to  about 
twelve  thousand  pupils  of  the  common  schools. 
In  this  case,  the  cost  is  defrayed  from  the  interest 
of  a  fund  devoted  to  useful  or  artistic  ends,  and 
under  the  control  of  the  Kultus  Minister.  In 
Charlottenburg,  two  plays  yearly  are  given  to 
twelve  hundred  pupils,  and  the  cost  is  included 
in  the  annual  school  budget.  This  is  the  most 
decisive  step  yet  taken  to  provide  plays  for 
school  children  at  public  cost ;  but  there  is  a  grow- 
ing appreciation  of  the  value  of  theater  per- 
formances as  a  part  of  school  work,  and  a  feeling 
that  parishes  should  introduce  them  in  the  free 
course,  assume  the  duty  of  arranging  with  mana- 
gers for  discount,  and  otherwise  solve  the  prob- 
lem of  ways  and  means. 

As  in  our  own  country  the  number  of  pieces 
suited  to  children  in  the  German  theater  is  very 
limited.  Those  usually  given  under  the  auspices 
mentioned,  are  by  Schiller,  Lessing,  and  Goethe; 
the  plays  most  commonly  produced  being  Wil- 
helm  Tell,  Jtmgfrau  von  Orleans,  Minna  von  Barn- 
helm,  Gotz  von  Berlichingen,  and,  in  some  cases, 
Maria  Stuart.    Even  these  do  not  seem  in  all 

62 


EFFORTS  TO  PROVIDE  GOOD  DRAMA 

ways  suited  to  children's  comprehension;  for 
as  a  result  of  the  first  experiment  in  this  line, 
it  v/as  found  that  only  one,  Wilhelm  Telly  was 
approved  by  all  the  teachers.  Besides  these 
classics  for  older  pupils,  dramatized  fairy-tales 
(such  as  ''Hansel  and  Gretel,"  and  the  ''Story 
of  Goldie  Locks")  are  sometimes  given,  to  which 
younger  children  of  the  common  schools  are 
taken  by  parents  and  teachers  at  special  school 
rates.  These  stories  are  not  usually  presented  in 
beautiful  or  artistic  fashion;  in  many  cases  they 
are  of  little  worth;  and  between  the  dramatized 
fairy-tale  and  the  higher  drama  there  is  a  great 
gap.  Struggles  of  the  child  soul  —  e.g.,  the  awak- 
ening of  feelings  of  honor  and  guilt,  and  the  trials 
and  difficulties  of  school  life  —  have  been  treated 
by  Robert  Saudeck  in  a  number  of  plays;  but 
these  do  not  reach  the  standard  of  true  drama, 
and  while  they  present  the  real  psychological 
problems  of  child  fife,  they  are  not  dramas  for  but 
about  children  —  plays  written  for  adults.  The 
lack  of  drama  for  the  young  is  in  strong  contrast 
to  the  wealth  of  tales;  but  the  lack  is  due  to 
the  very  nature  of  drama,  which  is  above  the  in- 
telligence of  the  ordinary  child.  According  to 
Raphael  Lowenfeld,  the  well-known  writer  and 
director  of  the  two  Schiller  theaters  in  Berlin, 

63 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

the  theater  is  not  suited  to  young  children;  and 
the  opportunity  to  attend  performances  should 
be  offered  only  to  those  old  enough  to  study  a 
dramatic  poem,  i.e.,  to  pupils  in  the  upper 
classes  of  the  common  schools,  where  the  teacher 
guides  them  to  a  comprehension  of  the  treatment 
and  meaning.  He  believes  that  if  the  child  is  not 
old  enough  to  be  taught  to  see  character  in  the 
classroom,  he  is  certainly  not  old  enough  to 
profit  by  the  scene  upon  the  stage.  In  his  own 
words :  — 

To  children  not  so  far  advanced  the  stage  says 
[nothing,  or  not  the  right  thing.  .  .  .  The  first  visit 
( to  the  theater  must,  for  every  normal  child,  be  of 
'  overwhelming  influence;  but  for  that  must  be  pre- 
supposed a  great  poem  and  ripe  receptivity  at  the 
appropriate  age.    What  the  child  has  read  stands 
before  him  again  in  light  and  color  as  he  knows  it 
in  the  actual  world.    Men  of  other  times  speak  to 
him  in  the  lofty  speech  of  poets;  deepest  feelings  find 
echo  in  the  childish  heart;  and  higher  thoughts, 
which  everyday  life  does  not  bring  to  him,  now  appeal 
to  his  understanding.  ...  In  the  positive  experience 
y  of  the  first  day's  impression  lies  the  starting-point 
of  a  spiritual  development  and  an  increase  in  the 
^  joy  of  living;  and  the  negative  result  is  of  inestimable 
value  for  moral  development.   This  is  easily  attain- 
^  able  for  the  children  of  the  rich,  who  see  too  much 
rather  than  too  little  (which  is  unquestionably  harm- 

64 


EFFORTS  TO   PROVIDE   GOOD   DRAMA 

ful,  for  the  impression  becomes  less  strong),  but  for 
the  poor,  friends  of  art,  education  associations,  and 
the  municipality  should  provide. 

The  same  opinion,  that  everyday  enjoyment 
of  the  theater  is  not  suitable  for  children,  is  held 
by  other  German  writers;  among  them,  Dr. 
Rudolf  Bliimner,  of  Berlin,  who  claims  that  it 
should  be  a  special  event;  otherwise  it  takes 
away  from  the  experience  that  ought  to  belong 
to  later  years. 

There  is  a  common  belief  [he  says]  that  children 
are  not  taken  often  enough  to  see  classic  pieces 
at  the  theater.  This  is  a  mistake.  The  too  early 
introduction  to  the  best  is  almost  as  dangerous  as 
familiarity  with  Uterary  worthlessness;  for  as  Grill- 
parzar  has  said,  ''The  theater  is  no  trivial  school  for 
the  unripe." 

While  we  have  nothing  in  the  United  States 
which  parallels  the  work  of  the  teachers'  asso- 
ciations of  Germany,  various  movements  have 
originated  here  in  the  last  few  years,  which, 
though  differing  in  form,  are  similar  in  spirit,  in 
that  they  recognize  the  psychological  need  of  the 
child,  the  adolescent,  and  the  adult  for  some  form 
of  dramatic  entertainment.  In  1897,  the  late 
Charles  Sprague  Smith  founded  in  New  York 
the  ''People's  Institute,"   the   aim    of  which, 

6s 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

according  to  its  constitution,  was  "To  furnish 
the  people  continued  and  ordered  education  in 
social  science,  literature,  and  other  subjects,  and 
to  afford  opportunities  for  the  interchange  of 
thought."  Its  dramatic  department  was  begun 
in  1 90 1,  when  Marshall  Darrach  was  engaged 
for  Shakespearean  recitals,  which  proved  so  popu- 
lar to  East  -  Side  hearers  that  they  were  given 
to  constantly  increasing  audiences  during  three 
successive  seasons.  In  consequence  of  this  suc- 
cess, regularly  staged  plays  of  Shakespeare  were 
next  presented,  the  Ben  Greet  Company  giving 
a  series  of  performances,  including  a  matinee  for 
children  (price  of  admission,  twenty-five  cents), 
the  pupils  of  a  single  high  school  purchasing  no 
less  than  seven  hundred  tickets. 

An  attempt  made  to  organize  a  company  of 
members  of  the  Institute  to  give  plays  under 
professional  direction  was  abandoned  after  one 
trial;  and  the  directors  next  turned  their  atten- 
tion toward  what  developed  into  one  of  the  most 
important  features  of  their  work  —  that  of  in- 
teresting managers  in  giving  reduced-rate  tickets, 
not  only  for  Shakespearean  but  for  other  good 
plays. 

The  eagerness  with  which  children  and  mem- 
bers of  various  groups  —  labor  organizations, 

66 


EFFORTS  TO  PROVIDE  GOOD  DRAMA 

department  stores,  etc.  —  availed  themselves  of 
such  privileges,  and  the  fact  that  as  time  went 
on  an  increasingly  large  number  of  plays  was 
presented  for  approval,  led  to  the  definite  or- 
ganization of  a  Dramatic  Department.  Com- 
mittees were  made  up  of  prominent  men  and 
women  who  visited  theaters  and  reported  upon 
plays;  and  a  system  was  adopted  for  subjecting 
these  to  a  standard  test,  A  play  might  be  re- 
jected for  one  group,  though  offered  to  others; 
as,  for  example,  comparatively  few  suitable  for 
adults  could  be  recommended  for  school  children 
of  the  lower  grades.  Thousands  of  wage-earners 
and  children  have  taken  advantage  of  these  re- 
duced-rate tickets,  distributed  through  librarians, 
school  principals,  heads  of  settlements  and  in- 
dustrial organizations;  and  not  only  has  the  sys- 
tem enabled  people  of  limited  means  to  see  good 
performances  at  the  price  of  poor  ones,  but  it 
has  served  as  encouragement  to  theater  managers 
to  offer  better  productions,  and  indirectly  even 
made  the  success  of  certain  plays. 

In  the  spring  of  1910  the  Dramatic  Branch 
of  the  People's  Institute  developed  into  an  in- 
dependent movement  known  as  the  "Wage- 
Earners'  Theater  Leagues."  This  organization 
v/as  launched  by  theater  managers  themselves, 

67 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN   EDUCATION 

who  recognized  the  advantage  of  the  large  audi- 
ence thus  created  from  the  wage-earning  class, 
but  chafed  at  the  rejection  of  certain  plays.  They 
claimed  that  lack  of  indorsement  by  the  com- 
mittee of  selection  meant  the  failure  of  such  plays 
upon  the  boards.  Accordingly  the  new  asso- 
ciation leaves  out  this  committee,  except  in  the 
case  of  plays  offered  to  children,  which  are 
chosen,  as  formerly,  by  representatives  of  the 
public  schools. 

In  several  cities,  organizations  now  undertake 
the  censoring  of  plays  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
the  standard  of  the  stage.  Among  these  is  the 
Drama  League  of  America,  founded  in  Chicago 
in  1 910,  which  numbered  in  the  first  year  more 
than  twelve  thousand  members,  and  now  has 
twenty-seven  branches  of  ''centers"  in  other 
cities.  The  earliest  was  in  Boston,  where  for 
some  years  the  Twentieth  Century  Club  had 
been  active  in  matters  pertaining  to  the  upHft 
of  conditions  in  local  theaters.  Six  of  the  larger 
branches  are  ''producing  centers,"  which  issue 
their  own  bulletins. 

The  object  of  these  leagues  is  to  furnish  a  con- 
sensus of  opinion  as  to  plays  especially  worth 
seeing.  Committees  attend  first-night  perform- 
ances and  issue  bulletins  recommending  such 

68 


EFFORTS   TO   PROVIDE   GOOD   DRAMA 

as  have  received  their  commendation.  In  this 
way  parents  and  teachers  may  learn  what  plays 
are  suitable  and  desirable  for  their  young  people. 
Bulletins  of  censure  are  not  circulated;  the  spirit 
of  hypercriticism  is  not  encouraged;  but  when 
estimating  the  success  attained  by  any  given 
performance,  an  effort  is  made  to  discriminate 
in  the  credit  given  to  playwright  and  actors. 
Thus  is  awakened  an  intelligent  interest  which 
will  bring  a  strong,  uplifting  influence  to  bear 
upon  the  theater  throughout  the  country.  Pre- 
cisely such  an  influence  came  in  New  York  from 
the  MacDowell  Club  whose  drama  committee 
endeavored  to  "encourage  dramatists  to  produce, 
and  managers  to  present,  artistic  drama,"  and, 
to  this  end,  pledged  support  during  the  first 
three  weeks'  run  of  any  new  production  upon 
which  a  favorable  report  had  been  given;  other- 
wise, plays  out  of  the  usual  order  might  have 
been  withdrawn  without  fair  trial.  This  com- 
mittee is  now  merged  in  the  Drama  League  of 
New  York. 

The  Drama  Committee  of  the  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury Club  of  Boston,  referred  to  above,  for  five 
years  (or  until  19 13)  arranged  for  a  series  of 
high-school  matinees,  hiring  for  the  purpose  a 
local  theater  and  taking  nearly  its  entire  seating 

.    69 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN   EDUCATION 

capacity  for  a  certain  number  of  performances. 
It  was  hoped  that  the  Boston  School  Department 
would  eventually  take  the  initiative,  authorizing 
and  arranging  for  similar  productions,  but  as  yet 
this  hope  has  not  been  realized.  In  other  cities 
it  is  possible  to  trace  the  beginning  of  a  move- 
ment to  recognize  the  importance  of  the  drama 
as  a  part  of  children's  public-school  education. 
In  New  York,  the  School  Committee  has  not 
only  approved  of  a  number  of  plays  and  arranged 
for  the  sale  of  tickets  to  pupils  at  a  reduced  price, 
but  has  planned  a  series  of  Shakespearean  plays 
to  be  given  in  some  of  the  large  school  halls  by 
professional  actors  at  a  merely  nominal  price. 

In  line  with  these  really  constructive  efforts 
is  the  work  of  social  settlements  which,  from  the 
very  beginning,  have  used  play -giving  as  a 
method  of  education.  It  has  been  found  that  a 
play  oftentimes  furnishes  the  necessary  incentive 
to  effort  on  the  part  of  young  people  and  chil- 
dren, who  will  work  for  this  as  for  nothing  else. 
Many  a  settlement  has  its  record  of  plays,  more 
or  less  ambitious  in  character,  which  have  been 
successfully  produced.  Classics,  even,  are  at- 
tempted ;  nor  is  this  surprising  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  personnel  of  settlements  includes  many 
college  men  and  women  imbued  with  the  high 

70 


EFFORTS  TO  PROVIDE  GOOD  DRAMA 

standards  and  the  higher  ideals,  which  have 
come  to  prevail  in  connection  with  college  dra- 
matics. 

It  is  not  possible  here  to  go  into  the  work  of 
the  different  organizations,  which,  in  their  efforts 
to  uplift  and  teach  the  masses,  are  making  use 
in  varying  degree  of  dramatics  as  a  means  of 
accomplishing  their  ends ;  but  that  of  a  few  may 
be  mentioned  in  order  to  indicate  the  character 
of  what  has  been  done. 

Many  settlements  have  regular  dramatic 
clubs,  and  others  give  plays  occasionally.  Hull 
House  has  several  dramatic  associations,  senior, 
junior,  and  children's,  which  give  plays  of  Shake- 
speare, Ibsen,  and  Shaw;  melodramas,  dramatized 
stories  and  fairy  tales,  according  to  the  interest 
manifested  by  the  several  groups.  One  of  special 
interest  some  years  ago  was  a  dramatization 
of  Charles  W.  Chesnutt's  story,  *'The  Wife  of 
His  Youth,"  given  by  a  company  of  young  people 
of  his  own  race.  Groups  of  Greeks  and  Italians 
have  given  plays  in  their  native  languages,  the 
management  beheving  that  the  best  way  to  con- 
vert members  of  our  foreign  population  into  good 
American  citizens  is  to  preserve  and  ennoble 
their  national  characteristics. 

Hull  House  has  had  for  some  years  also  a  mov- 

71 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

ing-picture  show,  or  five-cent  theater,  wherein 
are  presented  fairy  tales  for  children,  foreign 
scenes  to  delight  the  immigrant  population,  inci- 
dents of  stories  which  portray  acts  of  heroism 
and  convey  moral  lessons,  and  other  things  of 
interest. 

Settlement  workers  have  recognized  the  ed- 
ucational value  of  drama  for  both  sides  of  the 
footlights.  Not  only  do  they  use  it  as  whole- 
some entertainment,  but  as  a  means  for  training 
speech,  manners,  and  taste,  and  of  intellectual 
and  moral  development.  One  of  the  Hull  House 
workers.  Miss  Madge  Jennison,  writing  of  her 
experience  in  play-coaching  in  an  article  in  the 
j  Atlantic  Monthly,  points  out  that  the  play  is  for 
?  the  club,  not  the  club  for  the  play,  and  speaks  of 
the  harm  that  might  result  from  the  acceptance 
of  failure  in  a  part,  and  the  benefit  that  comes 
when  a  child  really  "arrives,"  and  does  some- 
thing she  was  sure  she  could  not  do.  She  cites 
incidents  to  show  how  interest  is  aroused  and 
conversation  carried  on  in  terms  of  the  play,  and 
of  how  taste  has  been  influenced  thereby;  for 
though  tears  may  be  shed  at  the  very  idea  of 
giving  up  a  *' pompadour,"  or  wearing  an  old- 
fashioned  gown  in  place  of  one  with  a  pretty 
yoke,  yet,  in  the  end,  esprit  de  corps  prevails  and 

72 


EFFORTS  TO   PROVIDE  GOOD  DRAMA 

the  individual  learns  to  subordinate  herself  in 
the  interest  of  the  group. 

In  the  dramatic  work  of  the  Henry  Street  Set- 
tlement, New  York,  the  same  ideal  prevails  of 
preserving  the  traditions  of  different  nationali- 
ties. The  children  are  trained  to  reproduce  their 
various  national  festivals.  On  May  Day  they 
give  their  ancestral  dances  and  customs,  thus 
reviving  the  primitive  rites  by  which  man  ex- 
pressed his  joy  in  the  rebirth  of  spring. 

Denison  House,  Boston,  has  done  excellent 
work  in  dramatics,  having  given  a  number  of 
Shakespearean  plays  and  other  classics  with 
great  success,  not  only  in  Boston  proper,  but 
in  neighboring  towns,  as  well  as  at  Wellesley 
College. 

The  Elizabeth  Peabody  Settlement  of  Boston 
has  also  made  play-giving  an  important  feature 
of  its  work.  Its  new  building  is  provided  with  a 
well-equipped  theater  for  its  own  dramatic  per- 
formances and  the  use  of  neighborhood  clubs. 

Similar  in  spirit  to  the  dramatic  work  of  settle- 
r  Tits,  but  quite  different  in  its  inception  and 
.. ^ganization,  was  that  of  the  "Children's  Edu- 
cational Theater,"  of  the  East  Side  of  New  York 
City,  which  represented  a  movement  to  counter- 

•      73 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

act  the  influence  of  cheap  shows,  by  furnishing 
a  substitute  of  educational  value.  It  stood,  how- 
ever, for  something  more  than  the  mere  sub- 
stitution of  worthy  for  unworthy  drama;  for  it 
furnished  gratification  for  both  the  active  and 
passive  phases  of  the  dramatic  instinct,  in  that 
it  aimed  not  only  to  meet  the  need  of  the  child 
as  spectator,  but  was  alive  to  that  of  his  growing 
imagination  and  unabsorbed  energy,  his  need 
to  express  himself  as  creator  or  actor.  It  was 
started  about  a  decade  ago,  under  the  auspices 
of  a  Jewish  charitable  organization,  '^The  Edu- 
cational Alliance,"  which  has  its  headquarters  in 
the  Russian- Jewish  section  of  the  city.  It  accom- 
plished its  good  work  very  quietly  at  first;  and 
only  after  several  years  was  attention  turned  in  its 
direction,  when  several  magazine  and  newspaper 
articles  awakened  general  interest.  It  received 
particular  notice,  also,  when,  in  November  1907, 
during  the  run  of  The  Prince  and  the  Pauper, 
with  which  the  theater  opened  its  regular  season, 
an  invitation  performance  was  given  in  honor 
of  Mark  Twain.  On  that  occasion  President 
Eliot  and  other  guests  made  speeches;  and  letters 
from  President  Hall,  Professor  Brander  Mc:*:- 
thews,  Professor  George  P.  Baker,  and  others, 
commending  the  work  of  the  theater,  appeared 

74 


EFFORTS  TO  PROVIDE  GOOD  DRAMA 

upon  the  printed  programs.  Not  long  afterward 
it  again  attracted  notice,  when,  on  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  Sunday  law,  its  Sunday  afternoon 
performances  had  to  be  discontinued. 

The  theater  owed  its  beginning  to  Miss  Minnie 
Herts,  who  filled  a  vacancy  on  the  entertainment 
committee  of  the  Educational  Alliance,  and  in 
an  attempt  to  improve  upon  the  character  of  the 
entertainments  previously  given,  and  at  the  same 
time  furnish  something  of  educational  value, 
planned  the  training  of  young  people  of  the  neigh- 
borhood in  plays,  choosing  The  Tempest  for  the 
first  experiment.  A  competent  trainer  was  put 
in  charge,  and  after  much  serious  work  and  study 
the  play  was  produced. 

The  result  surpassed  all  expectation.  Not  only 
was  the  performance  highly  creditable,  even 
artistic,  but  the  effect  upon  both  actors  and 
spectators  was  unmistakably  good.  It  indicated 
to  the  management,  that  a  work  of  real  educa- 
tional and  socializing  influence  had  been  started, 
that  would  react  on  the  whole  neighborhood. 
On  street  corners  and  doorsteps,  in  factory  and 
tenement.  The  Tempest  was  discussed.  It  was 
even  acted  out  in  homes,  and  one  thousand  copies 
of  a  cheap  edition  of  the  book  were  sold  in  the 
locality.   People  who  during  the  week  diligently 

75 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

plied  their  humble  trades,  toiling  in  sweat-shops 
or  trundling  push-carts  along  the  narrow  streets, 
responded  to  the  many-sided  appeal  of  a  great 
drama.  Their  contracted  horizons  were  all  at 
once  widened.  No  matter  how  sordid  or  dreary 
the  surroundings,  pictures  of  beautiful  scenery 
remained  in  their  minds,  and  new  ideals  stirred 
their  imaginations. 
J  That  the  interest  which  had  been  aroused  by 
J  this  rich  experience  might  be  still  further  strength- 
^  ened.  The  Tempest  was  followed  by  other  fine 
plays  produced  in  similar  fashion.  The  Forest 
Ring,  Ingomar,  As  You  Like  It,  Snow  White, 
and  The  Prince  and  the  Pauper  were  given  as 
Sunday  matinees  for  these  Jewish  young  people 
and  children,  with  occasional  evening  perform- 
ances for  adults,  until  the  enforcement  of  the 
Sunday  law  made  them  impossible.  Then  a  suc- 
cession of  one-act  plays  for  Saturday  evenings 
was  regularly  substituted,  to  which  flocked 
crowds  of  spectators,  both  children  and  adults, 
and  their  success  was  as  great  as  that  of  The 
Tempest  and  its  successors.  Both  actors  and 
spectators  entered  fully  into  the  spirit  of  the 
plays.  The  actors  lived  their  roles  during  the 
many  weeks  of  preparation  and  performance. 
The  spectators  showed  their  belief  in  the  reality 

76 


EFFORTS  TO  PROVIDE  GOOD  DRAMA 

of  the  scenes  by  their  excited  exclamations  at 
critical  junctures,  their  outcries  of  warning 
against  danger,  and  their  lamentations  where 
these  were  disregarded.  Furthermore,  while 
they  applauded  the  acting  of  relatives  and  friends, 
they  longed  also  to  take  part  themselves.  Pre- 
paratory classes  grew  to  number  many  more 
members  than  the  cast  of  any  piece  demanded; 
and  these  classes  became  the  foundation  and 
strength  of  the  entire  work  as  it  progressed.  A 
play  was  first  studied  as  a  whole,  then  the  dif- 
ferent parts  taken  in  detail,  and  later  the  young 
people  themselves  made  assignment  of  roles  by 
vote;  their  choice  being  subject  to  the  final  deci- 
sion of  those  in  charge. 

The  possibilities  in  these  classes  for  indirect 
teaching  soon  became  apparent.  Each  play  was 
studied  with  reference  to  its  literary  and  dram- 
atic merit,  and  its  historical  teaching.  Motives 
governing  the  characters  were  considered,  be- 
havior analyzed,  comparisons  drawn,  and,  as  far 
as  possible,  morals  pointed  and  ethical  principles 
inculcated.  The  choice  of  the  play  depended  not 
alone  upon  its  general  educational  value,  but 
upon  the  particular  lessons  needed  by  members 
of  the  class  in  training,  and  by  the  spectators. 
Each  part  was  studied  by  several  young  people, 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

so  that,  in  case  of  a  long  run,  the  burden  would  not 
fall  too  heavily  upon  one  cast;  in  this  way,  too, 
more  would  profit  by  the  routine  work.  The  thea- 
ter was  run  to  some  extent  on  professional  lines, 
and  a  certain  amount  of  business  training  in- 
cidentally resulted.  The  same  methods  which 
facilitate  the  smooth  working  of  the  business 
enterprise  served  for  the  training  and  develop- 
ment in  various  directions  of  many  desirable 
qualities  and  characteristics.  The  young  people 
learned  the  meaning  of  responsibility,  and  to 
systematize  the  part  of  the  work  which  fell  to 
their  share.  Frequently,  when  for  some  reason 
they  were  necessarily  absent  from  the  cast,  the 
actors  themselves  trained  the  substitutes  for 
their  parts.  They  were  made  to  feel  that,  in  so 
doing,  they  must  aim  to  make  these  substitutes 
outstrip  their  teachers.  In  one  instance,  a  one- 
act  play  was  even  staged  by  the  young  people 
themselves;  and  the  instructor,  seeing  it  for  the 
first  time  after  it  left  classwork,  found  little  to 
correct.  Children  had  oversight  of  properties 
and  costumes  and  the  charge  of  the  box  ofiice; 
and  an  orchestra  of  children  played  between  the 
acts,  giving  their  services  in  return  for  regular 
instruction  in  music. 
They   learned  punctuality.    In   a   neighbor- 

78 


EFFORTS  TO   PROVIDE  GOOD  DRAMA 

hood  where,  it  is  said,  the  meaning  of  the  word 
was  previously  unknown,  great  pride  was  taken 
in  the  fact  that  not  once  in  the  course  of  four 
whole  years  was  the  curtain  rung  up  one  minute 
late.  Scene-shifters  became  so  proficient  in  their 
work  that  one  of  the  features  of  an  invitation 
performance  was  an  exhibition  of  their  skill,  the 
curtain  being  raised  for  the  purpose  during  an 
intermission.  They  developed,  too,  a  spirit  of 
cooperation;  and  consideration  of  self  yielded  to 
zeal  for  the  common  good.  If  occasion  demanded 
it,  the  hero  of  one  play  as  a  matter  of  course  took 
a  subordinate  part  in  the  next. 

Visitors  were  much  impressed  by  the  ease  and 
grace  of  the  young  performers,  and  especially 
by  their  flexible  English.  Mrs.  Burnett  noticed 
it  when  she  saw  their  presentation  of  The  Little 
Princess ;  and  Mark  Twain,  who  took  active  in- 
terest in  the  progress  of  the  theater,  commented 
upon  it.  He  is  reported  to  have  said,  *'It  seems 
that  we  Americans  may  learn  to  speak  the  Eng- 
lish language  from  the  East  Side,  nearly  all  of 
whose  citizens  came  to  this  country  unable  to 
speak  the  tongue  of  which  they  have  so  soon 
become  master." 

It  was  questioned  whether  the  wearing  of  the 
fine  clothes,  necessary  to  some  parts,  might  not 

79 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

make  poor  children  discontented  with  their  own ; 
but  this  has  been  answered  in  the  negative.  It 
is  claimed,  moreover,  that  having  to  look  after 
their  stage  costumes  made  the  children  more 
careful  of  their  own.  New  standards  of  taste 
resulted  from  the  staging,  and  even  penetrated 
in  some  cases  to  the  homes,  where  simpler  fur- 
nishings replaced  what  had  been  gaudy  and 
pretentious.  Simpler  dresses  worn  upon  the 
stage  were  borrowed  by  parents,  that  children 
might  wear  them  in  place  of  their  own  cheap 
finery  when  having  their  pictures  taken.  The 
children  learned,  too,  that  some  clothes  are  suit- 
able for  certain  occasions  only,  and  for  certain 
situations  in  Hfe.  Wealth  and  rank  tended  to 
assume  more  nearly  their  proper  place;  it  was 
the  kind  heart  and  feeling  that  were  appreciated 
in  the  Little  Prince,  the  Little  Pauper,  and  in 
Little  Lord  Fauntleroy,  under  the  change  of 
circumstances  they  experienced. 

The  outward  change  in  the  children  wrought 
by  the  theater,  both  as  to  physique  and  facial 
expression,  was  among  its  good  efTects.  The 
little  wardrobe  mistress  in  charge  of  the  dressing- 
room,  a  young  girl  who  ruled  her  small  domain 
with  a  firm  hand,  requiring  method  and  order 
in  all  that  came  under  her  supervision,  was  a 

80 


EFFORTS  TO   PROVIDE  GOOD  DRAMA 

striking  example  of  the  metamorphoses  some- 
times accomplished.  When  one  saw  this  alert, 
bright-eyed  little  business  woman,  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  realize  that,  when  she  came  to  the  theater, 
she  was,  as  one  of  the  force  expressed  it,  *'one 
of  the  most  weazened  little  creatures  that  ever 
was.'* 

To  illustrate  further  what  the  Children's 
Theater  may  possibly  have  accomplished  for  this 
same  child  we  may  mention,  that  when  one  of 
her  family  was  seized  with  a  severe  illness,  and 
other  members  of  the  household  proved  unequal 
to  the  emergency,  the  little  girl  showed  a  cool- 
headedness  and  capability  that  impelled  the 
physician  in  charge  to  ask,  ''What  training  has 
she  had?  To  what  is  all  this  due?"  This  is  but 
one  instance  of  many  in  which  the  training  of  the 
Children's  Theater  would  seem  to  have  given 
self-reHance  and  poise,  and  a  better  fitting  for 
life. 

The  Jews  are  a  polite  people  and  all  these 
children  are  Jews;  but  surely  the  noticeably  good 
manners  in  some  cases  may  be  traced  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Children's  Theater.  There  is  no 
other  conclusion  to  be  drawn,  when  a  small  boy 
stands  because  Miss  Herts  is  not  seated,  and 
explains  that  in  the  play  of  Little  Lord  Faunt- 

8i 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

leroy  he  ^'noticed  that  the  Earl  of  Dorincourt 
did.'^  Changes  of  this  nature,  however,  which 
impress  outsiders,  important  though  they  are, 
seem  to  members  of  the  management  who  have 
witnessed  the  process  of  transformation  less 
remarkable  than  those  wrought  upon  character. 
To  see  erect  carriage  take  the  place  of  crooked 
shoulders  and  shambling  gait  because  of  awak- 
ened ambitions  and  new  feelings  of  self-respect; 
to  see  faces  beam  with  aspiration  and  interest 
hitherto  undreamed  of,  was  to  behold  the  work 
of  the  Children's  Theater.  The  transformation 
that  some  of  the  young  girls  underwent  was  well 
illustrated  when  ^Op-O^-Me-Thumb  was  put  upon 
the  boards.  For  the  parts  of  laundry  girls,  the 
modulated  voices,  dignified  carriages,  and  quiet 
manner  that  had  been  painfully  acquired  were 
now  to  be  discarded;  strident  tones,  loud  laugh- 
ter, tilted  and  protruding  chins,  hip  and  elbow 
movements  were  to  be  assumed.  In  short,  girls 
were  to  reproduce  something  very  like  recent 
personal  history.  For  this  reason,  it  was  with 
no  little  apprehension  that  the  play  was  se- 
lected. Fear  was  entertained  also  as  to  the  pos- 
sible reception  of  scenes  such  as  that  between 
Amanda  and  the  hero  by  the  audience.  Instead, 
however,  of  a  cheap  interpretation  of  the  young 

82 


EFFORTS  TO  PROVIDE  GOOD  DRAMA 

girl's  attitude  toward  the  trifler,  the  pathos  of 
the  situation  outweighed  all  that  was  hurtful. 

A  question  frequently  asked  was,  whether  the 
training  would  not  turn  young  people  to  the 
professional  stage.  This  was  never  its  aim,  and 
apparently  was  not  its  tendency.  Rather,  it 
gave  an  outlet  to  the  adolescent  desire  for  dra- 
matic expression,  frequently  disillusioning  the 
young  aspirants  for  professional  stage  life,  and, 
without  withdrawing  them  from  their  vocations, 
fitting  them  to  be  better  citizens.  Not  more  than 
one  out  of  a  hundred  was  thought  to  have  real 
dramatic  talent.  Stress  was  laid  upon  hard  work 
and  careful  study  to  such  an  extent  as  might  rob 
the  stage  of  its  attractiveness  as  an  occupation 
for  some,  who  might  otherwise  have  thought  only 
of  its  glamour.  Miss  Herts's  secretary,  a  young 
girl  of  the  neighborhood,  who  had  made  a  great 
success  as  heroine  of  one  of  the  plays,  though 
urged  by  managers  to  enter  the  profession,  re- 
fused their  offers  and  returned  quietly  to  her 
typing. 

Even  the  taking  of  debased  parts  by  youthful 
actors,  concerning  the  effect  of  which  opinions 
are  at  variance,  had  a  prophylactic  value.  One 
of  the  children,  when  asked  whether  she  liked 
playing  low  parts  as  well  as  the  more  beautiful 

■  83 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

characters,  replied,  ^'I  do,  if  the  character  is 
true." 

The  question  of  the  advisability  of  bringing 
young  people  of  opposite  sexes  together  in  the 
more  sentimental  and  romantic  situations  was 
also  raised;  but,  according  to  the  management, 
no  bad  results  were  noticeable. 

Though  run  as  far  as  possible  on  business 
principles,  and  to  crowded  houses,  the  theater 
was,  nevertheless,  far  from  self-supporting.  This 
is  not  surprising  when  the  price  of  admission  was 
but  ten  cents.  The  expense  over  and  above  re- 
ceipts was  paid  by  the  Educational  AlHance; 
and  when  later  the  theater  entered  upon  a  new 
and  independent  existence,  this  organization  con- 
tinued to  lend  its  help  by  hiring  the  company  for 
a  series  of  plays,  for  which  it  paid  a  generous  sum. 

The  ''Children's  Educational  Theater"  unfor- 
tunately no  longer  exists.  After  a  successful 
record  of  five  years,  it  was  decided  to  enlarge  the 
scope  of  its  influence  by  removing  it  from  Grand 
Street  to  East  Eighteenth  Street,  where  Mr. 
Robert  Collier  loaned  a  house  for  the  purpose. 
With  the  change  of  locality,  the  theater  became 
a  regularly  incorporated  institution,  under  the 
name  of  ''The  Children's  and  Young  People's 
Educational  Theater."  Its  board  of  directors  was 

84 


EFFORTS  TO   PROVIDE   GOOD  DRAMA 

made  up  of  people  who  had  earlier  been  attracted 
to  the  experiment,  the  management  remaining 
practically  the  same. 

Under  the  new  regime,  it  was  proposed  to  dem- 
onstrate the  methods  of  the  theater  by  giving 
performances  in  other  cities  under  the  auspices 
of  various  associations  interested  in  social  and 
educational  advancement.  A  group  of  children 
was  actually  sent  to  Boston,  where  they  pre- 
sented The  Little  Princess.  But  after  a  brief 
period  the  whole  undertaking  perished  for  lack 
of  financial  backing.  The  experiment,  however, 
can  hardly  be  counted  among  the  Hst  of  failures. 
It  is  something  to  have  given  inspiration  to  other 
cities.  The  idea  is  now  in  the  air;  it  may  be  long 
before  it  materializes,  but  the  first  effort  has 
shown  what  can  be  done  with  it  as  a  recognized 
form  of  settlement  work.  Assuredly  it  stands 
out  as  one  of  the  best  sociological  achievements 
of  the  last  ten  years.  ^ 

An  admiring  German  critic  of  the  effort  sug- 

^  Lately  an  effort  has  been  made  to  revive  the  Children's 
Educational  Theater.  It  has  been  chartered  under  a  new  board 
of  directors,  and  performances  have  been  given  in  the  Wash- 
ington Irving  High  School.  Classes  are  held  in  various  pro- 
ducing centers  throughout  the  city.  Two  other  organizations, 
the  Educational  Dramatic  League  and  the  Educational 
Players,  are  trying  to  do  similar  work. 

85 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

gests  that  it  should  have  gone  a  step  farther,  and 
that  children  should  have  constructed  their  own 
plays.  All  we  can  say  in  reply  is,  that  this  has 
already  been  done  in  a  boys  club  started  by  Sid- 
ney S.  Peixotto,  an  experienced  worker  with 
boys.  Aiming  at  a  high  quality  of  self-expression, 
he  discarded  classic  drama  as  beyond  the  reach 
of  children,  claiming  that  the  long  and  tiresome 
rehearsals  are  in  themselves  bad.  Starting  from 
charades  and  various  crude  but  spontaneous 
efforts,  he  tried  to  inspire  the  inventive  faculty 
of  the  boys  to  the  production  first  of  single 
scenes,  and  later  to  more  fully  developed  plays. 
These,  for  eight  years,  proved  a  real  factor  in 
character-building  which  other  work  of  his  club 
has  aimed  to  emphasize.  The  boys  discussed  the 
play  they  were  about  to  construct,  and  worked 
out  the  plot  and  dialogue  for  themselves;  and 
the  development  from  the  coarse  "rough-house" 
sort  to  "fascinating  little  comedies''  is  said  to 
have  been  remarkable. 

The  working-out  of  costumes  and  scenery  by 
the  little  actors  themselves  might  often  add  to 
the  value  of  play-giving  were  other  children's 
theaters  to  be  established.  In  one  technical  high 
school  visited  by  the  writer,  this  has  been  done 
with  great  success. 

86 


EFFORTS  TO   PROVIDE  GOOD  DRAMA 

Many  people  suppose  that  a  children's  theater 
is  an  extremely  modern  institution.  In  reality, 
one  was  started  in  Berlin  a  little  over  fifty  years 
ago,  though  for  a  different  purpose  and  under 
widely  different  conditions.  The  originator  was 
the  poet.  Baron  Anton  von  Klesheim,  author 
of  the  MailUjterl,  a  collection  of  folk-songs.  His 
first  attempt  at  drama  was  a  child-comedy,  Der 
Erdgeist  und  die  Wasserfee,  which  he  wrote  in  his 
fiftieth  year,  and  for  the  production  of  which  he 
chose  Berlin.  There  were  many  difficulties  in 
the  way,  for  the  Prussian  capital  was  then  a 
small  city,  very  unlike  the  Berlin  of  the  present 
day.  He  needed  a  hundred  children,  and  they 
were  not  easy  to  obtain;  for  it  was  necessary 
that  they  should  be  beautiful  both  in  form  and 
face;  also,  out  of  the  actors  of  first  roles  he  wished 
to  make  miniature  artists. 

The  first  performance  was  given  in  the  theater- 
hall  of  one  of  the  well-known  hotels,  and  all  the 
prominent  people  of  Berlin  were  present.  The 
price  of  the  cheapest  seat  was  four  Marks.  No 
expense  was  spared  in  producing  the  play,  and 
the  spectators  were  charmed  with  the  acting. 
The  Children's  Theater  became  a  topic  of  con- 
versation, and  the  content  of  the  play  was  spread 
through  all  Berlin  child  world  by  these  one  hun- 

87 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

dred  children,  and  reproduced  wherever  half  a 
dozen  of  them  came  together.  Even  in  school 
at  recess  it  was  a  favorite  game.  Parents  became 
infected  with  the  enthusiasm,  and  in  prominent 
families  it  was  considered  a  great  honor  to  have 
the  children  chosen  to  be  actors.  Performances 
were  continued  during  five  months,  meeting  with 
continuous  approbation,  though,  financially,  the 
theater  was  not  successful. 

Another  German  example,  for  which  perhaps 
the  name  of  Children's  Theater  would  be  too 
ambitious,  is  that  of  the  plays  afterwards  given 
under  the  direction  of  an  Alsatian  pastor,  Herr 
Pfarrer  Siegfried,  to  meet  a  social  need.  Having 
asked  the  peasants  why  they  ^^ carried  on^'  so 
in  the  village,  one  of  them  answered,  *'  Because 
there  is  no  theater."  Whereupon  he  trained 
schoolboys  to  present  plays. 

Only  in  its  adaptation  to  educational  and 
sociological  purposes,  therefore,  is  a  children's 
theater  a  modern  invention.  Queen  Elizabeth 
maintained  boy  actors  as  part  of  her  household, 
where  they  not  only  formed  the  essential  part 
of  her  chapel  choir,  but  gave  plays  and  enter- 
tainments on  secular  occasions.  Earlier  still, 
Henry  VIII  employed  children  for  dramatic  rep- 
resentations;  and,  as  far  back  as  the  time  of 

88 


EFFORTS  TO  PROVIDE  GOOD  DRAMA 

Edward  IV,  if  not  earlier,  Children  of  the  Chapel 
gave  pageants  and  pantomimes  for  Christmas 
festivals. 

The  extent  of  children's  performances  in  the 
Elizabethan  age  was  little  known  until  recent 
investigations  brought  the  facts  to  light.  Half 
the  plays  of  the  period  were  produced  by  chil- 
dren's companies,  and,  in  the  reign  of  James  I, 
more  than  half.  Every  great  dramatist  except 
Shakespeare  wrote  for  them;  some,  like  Chap- 
man, writing  for  no  other.  Moreover,  most  of 
the  playwrights  who  wrote  for  both  men's  and 
boys'  companies,  gave  their  best  efforts  to  the 
latter.  The  children,  when  they  grew  up,  domi- 
nated the  stage  as  actors,  and  were  an  influence 
in  theater  and  drama  for  over  fifty  years.  The 
moral  tone  of  the  children's  plays  was  much  the 
same  as  that  of  the  others.  Tragic  parts  were 
bombastic,  comic  parts  frequently  foul;  and, 
while  in  some  ways  they  may  have  suited  the 
emotional  needs  of  the  young  actors,  no  one 
thought  of  the  effect  upon  them.  Boys  were  mere 
puppets  in  the  hands  of  their  elders. 

In  this  matter  of  the  dramatic  training  of  the 
child  as  part  of  his  education,  America  is  far 
ahead  of  Germany,  where  the  little  ones  still 
^* speak  pieces"  on  special  occasions,  or  give  a 

89 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

stupid  and  awkwardly  acted  little  play  before 
adoring  relatives.  In  this  country  we  have 
digested  FroebeFs  maxim,  '^ Learn  by  doing," 
while  Dr.  Blumner,  before  quoted,  is  still  plead- 
ing with  phlegmatic  school  directors.  *'  Capabil- 
ity to  declaim  a  poem,"  he  says,  *'is  not  a  talent 
turned  toward  acting;  it  is  acting.  The  dramatic 
I  art,  of  all  arts,  is  the  one  that  should  be  earliest 
'  cultivated.  All  little  children  are  taught  to  recite 
poems;  but  attention  has  heretofore  been  directed 
merely  to  memorizing;  while  the  slovenly  speech 
and  colorless  expression  that  will  hamper  them 
in  later  years,  especially  in  the  professions,  pass 
uncorrected." 


VI 


PLAY 

"Play  is  a  certain  natural  joy  or  pleasure,"  says 
the  Roman  philosopher  Seneca.  Plato,  before 
him,  made  it  a  means  to  an  end,  as  we  are  try- 
ing to  make  it  to-day:  *'Let  early  education  be 
a  sort  of  amusement ;  that  will  better  enable  you 
to  find  out  the  natural  bent  of  the  child."  Ci- 
cero, adopting  Plato's  idea,  considers  the  moral 
being  as  the  chief  end:  ^'Only  such  plays  should 
be  allowed  as  never  divert  from  righteous  action." 
Of  late  we  have  begun  in  earnest  to  apply  these 
sayings  of  the  wise.  New  methods  of  psychology 
are  giving  greater  insight  into  the  important 
role  of  play  in  the  field  of  the  emotions,  and  a 
fuller  sense  of  its  significant  relation  to  the  moral 
aspect  of  the  dramatic  instinct. 

For  the  study  of  the  nature,  function,  evolu- 
tion, development,  and  meaning  of  play,  espe- 
cially with  reference  to  this  instinct,  we  have  many 
valuable  data.  They  come  from  three  sources: 
the  play  of  animals,  the  play  of  primitive  peo- 

91 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

pies,  and  the  play  of  civilized  children.  For  our 
present  purpose  we  may  omit  the  first. 

In  the  numerous  studies  of  primitive  peoples 
pubhshed  in  recent  years,  the  authors  dwell 
much  more  upon  games  than  upon  informal 
play;  but  it  is  from  informal  play  that  games 
have  developed.  The  play  of  little  Kaffir  chil- 
dren, so  charmingly  described  by  Dudley  Kidd, 
in  his  Savage  Childhood,  and  many  of  the  games 
of  American  Indian  children  are  imitative  of  the 
pursuits  of  their  parents ;  and  games  of  both  chil- 
dren and  adults,  in  the  action  and  gesture  with 
which  occupations  and  customs  are  represented, 
give  abundant  evidence  of  the  strength  of  the 
instinct  for  dramatic  expression  among  savages 
and  semi-barbarous  races.  The  native  Bushmen 
show  in  their  games  a  fondness  for  masquerad- 
ing; they  dramatize  events,  and  assume  the  ap- 
pearance and  imitate  the  cries  of  animals  and 
birds  with  extraordinary  accuracy;  their  women 
put  on  the  heads  and  horns  of  animals,  and 
in  the  evening  appear  suddenly  in  sport  among 
a  group  of  children;  their  masquerading  serves 
in  war  to  deceive  their  enemies,  and  in  the  hunt 
to  attract  their  prey.  The  Fuegians  invent 
burlesque  scenes,  and  imitate  the  behavior  and 
cries  of  animals;  and  the  Forest  Veddahs,  Cen- 

92 


PLAY 

tral  Australians,  Esquimaux,  and  other  races 
have  a  passion  for  mimicry,  frequently  making 
the  white  man  and  his  doings  the  subject  of  imi- 
tation and  ludicrous  representation.  Abel,  in 
an  account  of  play  in  Neu-Mecklenburg  (New 
Ireland)  in  the  South  Sea;  Walker,  in  his  study 
of  Sioux  games;  and  Culin,  in  his  description  of 
Hawaiian  and  Philippine  games,  tell  how  the 
children  with  javeHns,  whips,  bows  and  arrows, 
wind-whirlers  and  popguns,  dolls  and  doll-houses, 
imitate  the  doings  of  adults ;  while  some  of  their 
simplest  baby-plays  are  distinctly  imaginative. 
But  most  of  our  data  are  from  material  near  at 
hand.  We  study  the  children  of  our  own  coun- 
try at  different  ages,  that  we  may  provide  for 
their  play  interests,  and  in  certain  cases  correlate 
play  with  school  work.  No  hard-and-fast  line 
can  be  drawn  between  what  is  fit  for  one  age  and 
what  for  another;  the  interests  of  one  pass  into 
the  next,  and  some  continue  through  life.  Espe- 
cially is  this  true  of  the  dramatic  interest.  Chil- 
dren's love  of  acting  out  their  own  ideas  and  of 
imitating  begins,  as  everybody  knows,  in  baby- 
hood. Even  before  they  can  speak,  mimetic 
action  is  the  natural  means  of  communication; 
and  they  imitate  the  movements,  expression, 
speech,  and  other  sounds  of  their  ciders.  A  little 

93 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

later  comes  play  with  toys;  and  later  still  an 
infinite  variety  of  dramatic  and  imitative  plays 
of  their  own  invention,  which  interest  far  more 
than  formal  games.  Their  play  covers  the  entire 
range  of  their  knowledge  and  experience.  Even 
at  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve,  when  free  active  play 
gives  way  in  great  measure  to  formal  games, 
dramatic  and  imitative  ones  have  the  chief 
place;  and  the  circus,  the  minstrel  show,  and 
Indian-hunting  are  among  the  favorites.  Then 
they  begin  to  form  secret  societies,  and  have 
rituals  and  ordeals.  They  play  at  being  bandits, 
and  form  gangs.  Actual  burglary  and  train- 
wrecking  by  children  are  examples  of  dramatic 
instinct  gone  wrong. 

Statistics  show  clearly  that  the  more  dramatic 
the  games,  the  more  popular  they  are.  The  study 
of  their  origin  is  profoundly  interesting.  *'Puss 
in  the  Corner,"  ** London  Bridge,"  and  many 
well-known  ring  games  are  full  of  dramatic  ele- 
ments derived  from  old  folk- tales  and  sagas, 
which  vividly  reproduced  the  real  spirit  and  life 
of  the  people.  Many  are  survivals  of  old  cere- 
monies and  beliefs;  some  are  remnants  of  village 
customs  and  funeral  rites;  others  of  border  war- 
fare, of  courting  and  various  forms  of  tribal  mar- 
riage, as  by  purchase  or  capture.    To  the  last 

94 


PLAY 

has  been  traced  the  game  of  "Three  Dukes"; 
to  the  first,  that  of  "Sleeping  Beauty,"  derived 
from  a  drama  of  the  spring  myth.  Guessing 
games  are  a  survival  of  primitive  philosophy,  of 
the  art  of  divination  and  sorcery;  and  imitation 
of  animal  sports  and  games  of  the  chase  and  war 
go  back  to  a  remote  past,  where  the  destruction 
of  prey  and  of  human  enemies  was  man's  most 
important  occupation.  "The  fighting  and  chas- 
ing instinct,"  says  James,  "must  have  been  in- 
grained." The  inherent  force  in  all  these  games, 
that  has  made  them  persist  from  generation  to 
generation,  has  been  identified  as  "the  dramatic 
faculty  inherent  in  mankind." 

In  recent  years,  progressive  courses  of  plays 
and  games  adapted  to  different  ages  have  been 
carefully  worked  out,  and  a  great  number  of  them 
published ;  —  in  some  cases  by  school  depart- 
ments in  connection  with  instruction  in  physical 
education,  as  in  Boston  and  Providence.  They 
include  simple  acts  such  as  warming  the  hands, 
walking  up  hill,  climbing,  etc.  A  large  number 
fall  under  the  head  of  animal  imitation,  as  a  cat 
chasing  a  mouse,  an  elephant  raising  his  trunk, 
the  leaping  of  a  kangaroo,  the  crowing  of  a  rooster, 
the  chirping  and  flying  of  birds.  Industrial  oc- 
cupations furnish  a  great  variety,  as  of  the  farmer 

95 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

picking  apples,  sowing  seed,  and  harvesting;  the 
carpenter  sawing  wood,  driving  nails;  the  engi- 
neer testing  his  throttle;  the  workman  digging 
and  shoveling;  soldiers  drilling  and  firing.  Out- 
door sports  and  pastimes,  such  as  ball-playing, 
swimming,  rowing,  golf-playing,  throwing  sticks 
into  trees  for  chestnuts  and  apples,  and  picking 
flowers,  are  brought  into  the  schoolroom.  Chil- 
dren are  even  taught  to  imitate  movements  in 
nature,  as  the  fluttering  and  whirling  of  leaves, 
the  falling  of  raindrops,  the  swaying  of  tree- 
tops,  a  windstorm,  flowing  water,  and  many 
others  in  which  an  idea  rather  than  an  object  is 
simulated. 

Good  as  all  this  may  be,  it  nevertheless  shows 
a  tendency  to  direct  the  plays  so  far  that  they 
become  stereotyped,  and  tend  to  repress  rather 
than  develop  the  dramatic  instinct  of  the  child. 
It  has  already  been  carried  to  extremes.  For 
example,  children  playing  at  picking  apples  are 
told  to  raise  themselves  high  on  their  tiptoes, 
stretch  the  right  arm  high  and  bend  the  head 
backwards,  pick  the  apple,  lower  the  heels,  and 
bring  the  right  hand  down  to  the  left  across  the 
chest.  This  is  repeated  several  times;  then  the 
left  hand  and  arm  are  brought  into  play,  that 
uniform  development  may  result.  Evidently  the 

96 


PLAY 

fact  is  here  lost  sight  of,  that,  whereas  physical 
exercise  may  profitably  proceed  according  to 
well-defined  rules,  the  same  precision  and  direc- 
tion cannot  be  applied  to  play  without  robbing 
it  of  interest.  One  would  scarcely  venture  to 
regulate  each  step  and  gesture  of  children  taking 
part  in  a  regularly  staged  drama;  yet  these  imi- 
tative plays  are  of  the  nature  of  individual  epi- 
sodes that  might  find  place  in  any  Httle  acted 
scene.  If  the  purpose  of  such  imitative  play, 
namely,  to  cultivate  spontaneity  and  give  emo- 
tional tone  to  healthful  exercise,  be  kept  clearly 
in  mind,  the  advantage  of  directing  the  child's 
thoughts  to  the  thing  to  be  done,  rather  than 
to  the  method  of  doing  it,  will  be  readily  per- 
ceived. 

But  it  is  especially  in  the  involuntary  play 
that  is  all  about  us,  irrepressible  in  every  normal 
child,  that  the  instinct  for  dramatic  expression 
is  clearly  revealed.  Almost  every  day  on  a  cer- 
tain university  campus,  the  writer  sees  examples 
of  it.  A  bit  of  red  cloth  on  one  of  the  terraces 
is  the  flag  of  a  portcullis,  and  a  small  toboggan 
projecting  from  the  veranda  and  lowered  and 
raised  at  intervals  serves  as  drawbridge;  and  a 
boy  who  takes  his  turn  at  working  it  will  only 
answer  for  weeks  at  a  time  to  the  name  of  ''Sir 

97 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

Galahad/^  and  can  best  be  directed  morally  by 
appealing  to  his  knighthood. 

Miss  Luella  Palmer,  of  the  Speyer  School, 
Teachers  College,  New  York,  tells  of  an  invol- 
untary play  carried  out  there  one  morning  before 
the  opening  of  school  (it  also  shows  how  games 
originate).  A  little  girl  told  her  that  some  one 
had  brought  a  rabbit.  On  investigating,  she 
found  some  of  the  children  forming  a  cage,  while 
two  others  were  impersonating  rabbits,  —  one 
the  mother,  the  other  the  baby  rabbit.  The 
principal  actor  made  beheve  to  feed  the  rabbits, 
and  stroked  their  heads.  From  this  resulted  a 
game  regularly  played  afternoons,  called  *'The 
Wild  and  Tame  Rabbit." 

Mrs.  Gomme  tells  a  story  of  her  own  little  boy, 
who,  when  told  to  come  out  from  under  the  table 
where  he  was  rubbing  his  head  against  the  pedes- 
tal, said:  ''But  I'm  not  a  little  boy,  I'm  a  cow; 
and  it's  not  a  table,  it's  a  tree,  and  I'm  rubbing 
my  horns." 

Mr.  Jacob  Riis  has  said  that  the  dramatic 
tendency  of  the  small  child  finds  its  food  in  New 
York  chiefly  in  the  drama  of  arrest;  and  Mr. 
Joseph  Lee  says  that,  in  Boston,  ''acting  fu- 
neral" is  one  of  the  popular  amusements;  which 
proves  two  facts  that  must  be  taken  into  account 

98 


PLAY 

by  educational  institutions:  (i)  that  city  chil- 
dren are  not  without  the  dramatic  instinct  to 
make  real  to  themselves  the  life  about  them,  by 
acting  it  out;  (2)  that  this  very  real  force  is 
at  present  being  perverted,  and  therefore  needs 
direction.  These  children  want  a  fair  chance, 
he  says,  and  judicious  suggestion,  to  turn  their 
strivings  for  the  realization  of  life  in  a  better 
direction.  The  large  imitative  factor  in  the 
dramatic  play  of  children  makes  it  a  rare  edu- 
cational instrument,  which,  besides,  emphasizes 
the  oft  -  repeated  lesson  of  the  importance  of 
the  right  environment  for  the  child.  That  the 
interest  in  funerals  as  processions  and  as  games 
is  not  peculiar  to  Boston  is  proved  by  numerous 
instances  of  the  sort  collected  by  many  experts 
in  child-study.  It  appears  that  death  and  fu- 
nerals, sometimes  of  cherished  pets,  elicit  more 
specialized,  detailed,  and  spontaneous  accounts 
than  any  other  subject;  and  it  is  evident  that 
imitative,  emotional,  and  dramatic  elements 
here  find  expression.  The  interest  of  children  in 
actual  funerals  is  well  illustrated  by  the  remark 
of  a  small  boy  of  four,  whose  home  happens  to 
be  near  a  church;  who,  standing  one  day  at  the 
window,  murmured  sadly,  "Nossing  to  do,  no 
fun,  no  funerals.'' 

99 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

In  the  Invisible  Playmate,  Mr.  William  Canton 
tells  how  his  child  had  always  to  be  seated  on  the 
same  knee,  as  the  opposite  one  was  occupied  in 
fancy  by  "  another  little  girl " ;  and  how  in  a  rail- 
way station  he  had  to  lift  the  child  high  up  to 
the  engine  front,  that  she  might  ''stroke  its  dear 
head." 

*' Let's  pretend,"  appeals  to  all,  and  needs  no 
rules  for  young  or  old.  Here  imagination  and 
imitation  work  together.  With  some  few  people, 
imagination  is,  unfortunately,  lacking;  others 
have  it  in  rich  abundance  and  retain  it  through 
life.  The  ability  to  imagine  and  pretend  has 
helped  people  over  many  a  sorry  situation. 
Lieutenant  Shackleton  and  his  men,  picturing 
savory  menus,  in  their  Barmecide  feasts;  Beau 
Brummel,  in  his  days  of  poverty  and  desertion, 
trying  to  preserve  appearances  to  himself;  Mrs. 
Burnett's  little  heroine,  Sara  Crewe,  forgetting 
hunger,  cold,  and  loneliness  in  her  attic  chamber 
while  she  plays  at  being  a  princess,  are  illustra- 
tive instances  from  real  life  and  fiction.  Appeal 
to  the  dramatic  instinct  in  play  is  one  of  the  most 
powerful  means  of  influencing  boys  in  the  pre- 
adolescent  period.  Many  of  the  most  successful 
Sunday  schools  have  drills  in  which  banners, 
swords,  and  caps  play  a  part;  and  the  appeal  is 

lOO 


PLAY 

distinctly  to  the  love  of  impersonation,  ritual, 
mystery,  and  parade.  These  drills  exercise  the 
play  instinct  and  afford  opportunity  also  for  the 
constructive,  in  making  regalia,  banners,  swords, 
and  various  appurtenances.  In  the  association 
for  boys  called  ''  Knights  of  Eang  Arthur,"  orig- 
inated by  Dr.  Forbush,  the  boys  gather  about 
the  Round  Table,  the  king  at  the  head  with  Mer- 
lin (the  adult  leader),  and  the  various  officers  in 
their  places,  while  a  short  and  impressive  ritual 
service  is  performed.  So  great  is  the  interest  of 
boys  in  initiations,  that  they  will  even  forego  a 
ball-game  to  take  part.  The  "Brotherhood  of 
David,"  on  similar  lines,  is  for  younger  boys,  as 
is  also  the  order  of  the  ''Wood  Craft  Indians," 
devised  by  Mr.  Ernest  Thompson  Seton  ''to  di- 
rect and  systematize  the  fever  for  playing  'In- 
dian' during  the  so-called  savage  period  of  boy- 
hood." Another  organization  that  utilizes  the 
same  principles  and  appeals  strongly  to  the  love 
of  the  dramatic,  though  by  a  more  meager  use 
of  symbolism,  is  the  "Boys'  Brigade"  started 
in  1883  by  Lieutenant  W.  M.  Smith,  of  Glasgow, 
who  found  that  the  power  of  accouterments,  even 
though  they  consisted  only  of  a  cap  and  belt, 
over  boys  who  could  not  otherwise  be  interested 
in  Sunday  school,  was  strong;  and  that  many 

lOI 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

transformations  of  character  were  effected  by 
turning  boys  into  '^privates.'' 

The  "Boy  Scout"  movement,  of  a  more  secu- 
lar character,  also  turns  the  love  of  dramatic 
action  to  definite  account,  by  arousing  the  sense 
of  chivalry  and  resourcefulness  in  practical  and 
beneficial  ways.  Founded  by  General  Baden- 
Powell  some  years  ago,  with  the  idea  that  boys 
in  the  home  country  might  imitate  the  deeds  of 
the  real  boy  scouts  at  Maf eking,  youngsters  are 
taught  to  follow  trails,  pitch  camps,  render  first 
aid,  etc. ;  so  that  in  time  of  emergency,  it  is  now 
not  unusual  to  see  uniformed  boys  appear,  has- 
tily improvise  a  stretcher,  and  bear  away  the 
victim  of  an  accident.  There  are  a  few  move- 
ments for  girls  on  similar  lines,  none  of  which, 
however,  has  as  yet  reached  anything  like  the 
proportions  attained  by  those  for  boys. 

Only  recently  have  educators  hit  upon  the 
way,  long  since  pointed  out  by  Plato:  "Educa- 
tion should  begin  with  the  right  direction  of 
children's  sports";  and,  as  usual,  the  Germans 
have  been  the  first  to  enter  it.  They  were  aroused 
by  the  signs  of  race  deterioration  in  army  recruits, 
and  set  about  devising  means  to  prevent  it. 
They  have  contributed  more  than  any  other 
people  to  the  scientific  knowledge  of  the  subject; 

I02 


PLAY 

but  Americans  have  taken  it  up  with  ardor,  and 
are  fast  popularizing  it.  In  active  propaganda 
they  have  outstripped  their  teachers.  Several 
decades  ago,  they  began  a  movement  for  general 
physical  education.  They  established  floating 
swimming  -  baths  and  vacation  schools.  They 
secured  reservations  in  parks  and  in  the  slum 
sections  of  cities  for  play  spaces  and  athletic 
fields,  and,  much  later,  some  municipal  play- 
grounds well  equipped  and  supervised.  They 
formed  a  National  Playground  Association,  by 
means  of  which,  together  with  local  societies,  the 
work  has,  within  a  few  years,  expanded  enor- 
mously. It  has  been  so  exploited  by  periodicals 
and  press  that  an  extended  review  of  its  methods 
is  unnecessary  here.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  already 
it  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  efficient  means 
of  making  good  citizens  that  has  yet  been  de- 
vised. 

One  of  the  ways  in  which  the  Playground 
Association  has  rendered  especially  valuable 
service  is  in  outlining  a  ''Normal  Course  in 
Play,"  useful  in  training  social  workers  as  well  as 
teachers;  since  it  gives  insight  into  the  impor- 
tance of  play  evolutionally,  both  on  the  physical 
and  mental  side,  emphasizing  its  great  function 
emotionally,  and  showing  the  general  principles 

103 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN   EDUCATION 

which  govern  its  educational  uses  and  applica- 
tions. 

England,  so  long  a  leader  in  athletics,  is  mov- 
ing but  slowly  in  this  direction.  Her  schools  have 
always  provided  for  play  under  the  guidance  and 
encouragement  of  their  masters.  Her  interest 
in  municipal  playgrounds  has  hitherto  meant 
merely  the  provision  of  space  for  sports;  but 
social  settlement  workers  are  now  creating  many 
of  the  American  type.  Glasgow  is  said  to  have 
founded  the  first  municipal  playground  with  full 
modern  equipment  in  the  world.  She  has  now 
more  than  a  dozen,  and  provides  for  their  super- 
vision. 

In  other  countries  the  movement  is  well  under 
way.  In  Italy,  where  as  yet  it  is  principally  on 
paper,  a  congress  was  held  in  1902  in  Turin, 
when  the  Italian  Minister  of  Education  appointed 
well-known  men  to  undertake  it.  France  has 
done  little  more;  but  open  playgrounds  have 
been  established  in  and  about  Paris  and  in  some 
of  the  small  manufacturing  towns.  The  work  is 
beginning  in  Austria,  Switzerland,  Holland,  Den- 
mark, and  Sweden,  and  even  in  far  Japan. 

The  supervision  of  play,  so  necessary  in  the 
public  playgrounds  and  recreation  centers  in  the 
slums,  has  reacted  upon  the  schools.    Teachers 

104 


PLAY 

and  children  now  play  together  during  recess  in 
ring  games,  etc.  But  there  is  danger  that  super- 
vision may  crowd  out  spontaneity  and  freedom 
of  expression.  To  tell  children  ''to  look  as  though 
they  were  enjoying  it,"  "not  to  have  so  sour  a 
face,"  ''to  smile,"  etc.,  is  to  prevent  the  very 
results  desired.  A  little  suggestion,  a  little  help 
and  reassurance,  and  sympathy  with  the  chil- 
dren's efforts  to  represent  their  own  ideas  are 
better  than  any  admonition. 

Yet  there  is  at  times  urgent  need  of  fostering, 
even  apparently  of  implanting,  the  play  spirit. 
Work  is  sometimes  as  good  as  play  for  develop- 
ing the  imitative  and  dramatic  instinct.  But 
city  life  has  taken  away  so  many  opportunities 
for  both  work  and  play,  that  even  the  play  spirit 
has  to  be  revived.  It  has  been  found  that  the 
children  of  certain  regions  in  the  country,  as 
well  as  in  the  city,  show  no  inclination  to  play. 
Here  is  a  fundamental  problem  to  be  dealt  with 
in  the  attempt  to  create  good  citizenship;  since 
lack  of  the  play  instinct  too  frequently  means 
arrested  development  or  is  a  symptom  of  men- 
tality below  the  normal.  Children  in  institutions, 
such  as  orphan  asylums,  even  where  facilities 
for  play  may  not  be  lacking,  usually  need  super- 
vision and  leadership  in  play  and  games.    The 

105 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

restricted  life,  the  lack  of  family  ajffection,  the 
strict  discipline,  and  monotonous  routine  all  tend 
to  deprive  them  of  spontaneity  and  initiative; 
and  they  need  to  be  aroused  and  stimulated, 
emotionally  as  well  as  physically.  The  chief  ends 
to  be  sought  are,  oftentimes,  forgetfulness  of 
other  days,  happiness  and  contentment. 

In  the  treatment  of  defectives,  various  forms  of 
play  are  of  value.  The  influence  of  manual  dexter- 
ity and  physical  exercise  on  mental  development 
is  well  brought  out  in  the  study  of  such  cases. 

For  delinquent  children  it  has  also  proved 
valuable.  It  has  been  found  that  the  girls  put 
into  reform  schools  know  almost  nothing  of  play; 
and  there  is  need  of  building  up  the  body  and 
implanting  a  desire  for  healthful  recreation.  The 
chief  thing  with  such  girls  is  to  make  them  forget 
their  past;  but  this  is  a  psychological  impossi- 
bility, unless  you  can  crowd  out  old  thoughts 
and  ideas  by  suppl3dng  new  and  interesting  ones. 
Daily  institutional  life  presents  few  spurs  for  the 
imagination;  and  for  uneducated  girls  the  appeal 
of  art  and  religion,  and  the  sublimation  of  old 
interests,  is  often  impracticable.  But  play 
changes  the  trend  of  ideas,  and  furnishes  mate- 
rial upon  which  the  imagination  may  work  with 
safety  and  profit. 

1 06 


PLAY 

It  has  been  found,  too,  that  most  truant  and 
reform-school  boys  do  not  know  how  to  play  as 
do  others  of  their  age;  so  that  for  delinquent 
boys,  no  less  than  girls,  play  may  be  made  a 
powerful  factor  for  awakening  new  ambitions 
and  ideals,  giving  their  thoughts  an  entirely  new 
trend,  and  steadying  the  emotions. 

While  results  cannot  as  yet  be  given  statisti- 
cally, there  is  a  widespread  feeling  that  the  well- 
conducted  playground  is  a  means  of  lessening 
crime.  A  juvenile  crime  map  of  a  section  of  Chi- 
cago, made  at  Hull  House  a  few  years  ago  by  Mr. 
Allen  Burns,  gives  the  number  of  cases  in  the 
Juvenile  Court  before  and  after  parks  and  play- 
grounds were  established  in  a  particular  neigh- 
borhood; it  shows  a  lessening  of  juvenile  crime 
in  a  period  of  three  years  of  about  thirty  per  cent 
within  a  half  -  mile  radius  of  the  playground. 
Police  officers  testify  that  arrests  are  fewer  after 
playgrounds  have  been  opened.  Gangs  of  boys 
that  have  been  the  terror  of  certain  neighbor- 
hoods have  been  effectually  broken  up;  and  this 
one  result  is  well  worth  the  money  appropriated 
for  playground  purposes.  Naturally,  juvenile- 
court  judges  are  strong  advocates  of  the  play- 
ground movement. 

Employers  realize  that  it  is  a  paying  invest- 

107 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

ment  to  provide  for  laborers  suitable  opportuni- 
ties for  recreation.  In  the  same  way,  where  play 
is  plentifully  interspersed  with  school  work,  the 
children  accomplish  much  more  than  when  their 
lesson  periods  are  long,  unbroken,  and  unen- 
livened. For  delicate  children,  the  gain  is  un- 
deniable. 

The  Juvenile  Protective  League,  founded  in 
Chicago  in  1909  to  supersede  the  Juvenile  Court 
Committee,  recognizes  the  play  instinct  in  its 
efforts  to  keep  children  from  becoming  delin- 
quents. It  has  divided  the  city  into  districts, 
in  each  of  which  a  paid  officer  looks  after  the 
play  and  amusements  of  the  children  during  their 
leisure  hours,  and  thus  removes  them  from  the 
temptation  and  danger  of  the  crowded  streets. 
The  idea  was  not  original,  for  a  similar  attempt 
had  been  previously  made  in  Basle,  Switzer- 
land, and  still  exists. 

In  studying  the  various  phases  of  the  new 
interest  in  play  and  the  quickened  sense  of  its 
value,  one  can  but  feel  that  the  outlook  is  en- 
couraging. Undoubtedly  in  some  cases  there  is 
a  tendency  to  overcurricularize  and  overdirect 
plays  and  games,  and  a  failure  to  discriminate 
between  children  who  have  no  play  initiative 
and  those  who  do  not  require  aid  at  every  turn. 

108 


PLAY 

These  mistakes  are  natural  at  the  beginning  of 
a  movement,  even  when  it  is  founded  upon  an 
enlarged  understanding  of  its  biological  and  psy- 
chological significance;  but  they  compel  the 
reminder  that  play  cannot  be  correlated  with  all 
school  subjects,  nor  can  the  spirit  of  play  be 
brought  into  all  appointed  tasks;  while  a  proper 
alternation  of  play  and  work  is  vital. 

Doubtless  there  will  be  more  or  less  of  a  reac- 
tion from  the  excessive  application  of  the  play 
principle  as  a  panacea  for  all  the  evils  of  the 
social  system;  yet  this  cannot  affect  the  real 
issue,  since  the  foundations  upon  which  it  rests 
are  scientifically  sound. 


VII 

DANCING 

Dancing  is  the  rhythmic  movement  of  the  hu- 
man body,  with  or  without  the  accompaniment 
of  music.  The  regular  recurrence  of  the  same 
movement  without  break  or  jar  is  what  is  meant 
by  rhythm.  Nature  moves  in  rhythms.  The 
earth's  rotation  and  revolution,  the  sequence  of 
the  tides,  the  birth,  life,  and  death  of  plants  and 
flowers,  the  unconscious  activities  of  mind  and 
body,  are  all  rhythmic.  No  wonder,  then,  that 
conscious  rhythmic  expression  is  one  of  the 
earliest  attainments  of  man,  that  it  has  held 
an  important  place  in  all  nations,  and  appeals 
powerfully  to  every  human  being. 

With  primitive  peoples  to  -  day,  where  lan- 
guage is  more  or  less  inadequate  for  the  expres- 
sion of  emotion,  the  dance  with  its  accompany- 
ing gesture  has  an  important  role.  It  had  the 
same  in  ancient  times.  It  was  closely  bound  up 
with  daily  life,  and  special  dances  were  connected 
with  almost  every  custom  and  event.  Evil  spirits 
were  exorcised  and  gods  propitiated,  initiations, 

no 


DANCING 

marriages,  and  other  tribal  rites  were  solem- 
nized, to  the  accompaniment  of  the  dance ;  events 
of  chase  and  battle  were  represented  and  com- 
memorated; victories  celebrated;  grief  over  fail- 
ure and  defeat,  and  the  most  savage  revenge, 
found  their  expression  and  relief.  In  their  ghost- 
dance,  the  American  Indians  entered  into  com- 
munion with  their  dead;  the  Zuiiis  celebrated 
the  coming  of  the  solstices  with  a  ceremonial 
dance;  and  the  Australians  their  victories  with  a 
corroboree,  of  which  the  movements  were  so  care- 
fully formulated  that  the  dancer  who  made  a 
misstep  was  punished. 

Dancing  was  early  associated  with  religion. 
The  temple  dances  of  the  Egyptians  imitated 
the  apparent  movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies. 
Those  which  formed  a  part  of  the  festivals  in 
honor  of  Isis  and  Osiris  expressed  joy  and  grati- 
tude after  harvest.  In  Greece,  dancing  was  from 
the  first  a  form  of  worship,  and,  as  is  well 
known,  played  a  part,  through  its  union  with 
music  and  poetry,  in  the  development  of  the 
drama.  Plato  thought  that  it  should  be  regulated 
by  law.  Authorities  agree  that  it  was  an  impor- 
tant factor  in  producing  the  noble  Greek  civi- 
lization. Greek  dancing  included  exercises  for 
strength  and  grace.    Classic  writers  make  men- 

III 


DRAMATIC   INSTINCT   IN   EDUCATION 

tion  of  a  great  variety  of  forms,  and,  in  addition, 
records  are  furnished  by  the  drawings  on  Greek 
pottery  and  by  Greek  sculpture.  It  is  even  pos- 
sible to  see  survivals  of  the  ancient  dances  to-day 
in  Crete.  For  the  most  part,  they  were  simple 
in  character  and  gentle  in  movement. 

The  Romans  in  their  early  history  danced 
little,  and  that  in  rehgious  rites,  men  only  taking 
part.  Later,  they  held  military'  and  rural  dances; 
and,  later  still,  pantomimes  and  the  mimetic 
dance  came  into  great  favor.  Roman  dancing 
never  reached  so  high  a  development  as  that  of 
the  Greeks,  although,  as  with  the  latter,  it  was 
a  part  of  festivals.  The  more  highly  elaborated 
and  refined  dancing  of  the  Augustan  age  was 
largely  borrowed  from  the  Greek. 

Dancing  is  frequently  referred  to  in  the  Bible. 
Miriam  danced  at  the  fall  of  Pharaoh,  and  Da\4d 
danced  before  the  Ark;  Jephthah's  daughter 
went  out  to  meet  her  father  in  a  dance  of  wel- 
come, and  Herodias's  daughter  danced  before 
Herod  at  feasts. 

In  the  Orient,  too,  we  find  dancing  accessory- 
to  religious  ceremonies,  as  well  as  a  feature  of 
social  life.  All  Oriental  dancing  has  certain  in- 
dividual characteristics.  It  consists  largely  of 
swaying  and  posturing,  rather  than  of  move- 

112 


DANCING 

ment  from  place  to  place.  It  is  generally  sym- 
bolic and  mimetic;  as  an  art,  it  is  more  highly 
developed  than  singing. 

In  India,  the  oldest  writings  mention  the  danc- 
ing of  girls  in  the  sacred  rites.  Dancers  were  also 
employed  for  entertainment  in  private  houses 
and  for  public  festivals.  They  formed  a  separate 
class  and  began  their  training  at  a  very  early 
age. 

With  peasants  of  every  country  dancing  is  the 
greatest  of  all  pastimes.  It  is  particularly  the 
resource  of  oppressed  peoples,  whose  monoto- 
nous and  blank  lives,  without  other  inspiration, 
find  in  the  dance  an  emotional  relief.  Nearly  all 
their  mental  stimulus  comes  from  it.  It  embodies 
their  traditions;  and,  combined  with  the  folk- 
song, has  historic,  literary,  and  patriotic  value. 

In  Scandinavia,  dance-songs  have  come  down 
from  the  time  of  the  vikings.  They  are  lively  and 
picture  very  dramatically  love  and  courtship. 
Over  four  hundred  are  still  known.  Peasant 
dancing  in  Russia  is  of  ancient  Slavonic  origin. 
It  represents  a  love  drama  in  the  form  of  a  dance- 
song  performed  with  great  joy  and  abandon, 
though  no  instrument  is  used  as  an  accompani- 
ment. In  Spain,  a  great  variety  of  ancient  dances 
may  be  seen  to-day  in  their  own  environment, 

113 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

or  as  brought  together  at  fair-time  in  Seville, 
when  groups  of  men  and  women  from  all  the 
different  provinces  perform  their  dance-songs. 
Vine-dressers,  muleteers,  water-carriers,  goat- 
herds, fishermen,  shepherds,  and  forest-dwellers 
go  through  dances  of  all  grades,  from  the  proud 
and  stately  movements  of  Castile  to  the  wild, 
^' hot -blooded"  dances  of  the  South,  some  of 
which  overstep  the  bounds  of  decency.  In  Italy, 
dancing  is  a  favorite  diversion;  the  tarantella 
figures  as  prominently  in  the  south  as  the  sai- 
ler ello,  or  dance  of  the  gardeners  and  vintners,  in 
Rome.  In  Germany,  especially  in  Bavaria,  many 
interesting  peasant  dances  are  found.  The 
Schuh  plattler,  with  its  forty  or  more  varieties, 
is  one  of  the  principal  pastimes  in  the  highland 
regions.  Doubtless  the  Angles  and  the  Saxons 
brought  their  folk-dances  with  them  to  England. 
The  ''morris"  in  the  days  of  ''Merrie  England" 
was  one  of  the  most  common.  According  to  some 
accounts,  it  was  brought  from  Spain  by  John  of 
Gaunt  in  the  time  of  Edward  III,  and  is  of  Moor- 
ish origin.  It  was  connected  with  May -Day 
celebrations.  The  characters  were  usually  taken 
from  old  English  legends  and  romances,  and 
varied  according  to  the  locality;  though  Robin 
Hood,  Little  John,  the  Hobby-horse,  the  Fool, 

114 


DANCING 

and  Friar  Tuck  were  generally  among  them. 
Dancing  around  the  Maypole  was  practiced  in 
London  as  well  as  in  the  country;  and  other  of 
the  folk-dances  were  adopted  in  the  high  circles 
of  society.  Dancing  was  a  feudal  custom.  Judges 
danced  annually  on  Candlemas  Day  at  Ser- 
geants' Inn;  and  Benchers  in  the  great  Inns  of 
Court  held  their  privileges  on  condition  that  they 
danced  about  the  fire,  singing.  In  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  a  great  number  and  variety 
of  dances  were  introduced.  She  herself  was  de- 
voted to  the  art  and  is  said  even  to  have  kept  an 
ambassador  waiting  while  she  finished  her  exer- 
cise. 

In  the  Middle  Ages,  the  introduction  of  mys- 
tery plays  brought  dances  again  into  the  service 
of  religion,  and  even  into  the  cathedrals.  But 
they  soon  fell  into  disrepute,  and  were  banished 
from  church  and  city,  though  the  peasants  still 
delighted  in  them.  To  a  limited  extent,  in  some 
Catholic  countries,  church  dances  were  custom- 
ary as  late  as  the  seventeenth  century;  and 
in  Seville,  at  high  festivals  to-day,  boys  in  six- 
teenth -  century  costumes  perform  before  the 
high  altar  a  quaint,  reverent  and  impressive 
dance  to  the  accompaniment  of  beautiful  minor 
strains. 

115 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

The  scenic  or  dramatic  dances  of  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries,  called  *' ballets,"  were 
stories  set  to  music,  and  were  independent  en- 
tertainments very  unlike  the  ballets  of  modern 
opera.  They  began  in  Italy,  where  in  1489,  at 
the  Duke  of  Milan's  marriage  with  Isabella  of 
Aragon,  one  was  given  in  her  honor. 

In  France,  many  dances  of  other  nations  were 
adopted,  refined,  developed,  and  returned  to  their 
own  countries  to  become  generally  the  fashion. 
Dancing  flourished  there  in  the  days  of  knight- 
hood, and  some  of  the  French  queens  were  skilled 
performers.  In  the  sixteenth  century  the  slow 
and  graceful  movements  of  some  of  the  figures, 
as  of  the  minuet,  became  the  very  poetry  of 
motion. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  in  all  countries, 
elaborate  and  dignified  dances  were  replaced  by 
simpler  ones.  Quadrilles  and  contra-dances  came 
into  favor,  and  many  peasant  dances  were 
adopted  by  the  upper  classes  and  made  the  fash- 
ion. Such  were  the  gavotte,  a  French  provincial 
dance;  the  polka,  introduced  from  Bohemia;  and 
the  waltz,  a  German  modification  of  the  Italian 
volta. 

So  all  peoples,  high  and  low,  have  danced 
themselves  down  to  the  present  day.  Almost  all 

116 


DANCING 

the  old  feudal  and  court  forms  have  disappeared; 
but  the  dance  of  the  people  has  been  more  per- 
sistent, and  has  supplanted  in  modern  ballrooms 
the  aristocratic  forms. 

As  a  part  of  the  recent  revival  of  folk-art, 
many  of  the  old  dances  are  being  sought  out  and 
revived.  Since  1891,  three  international  con- 
gresses have  been  held  for  the  purpose  of  reviving 
and  preserving  national  dances.  More  especially 
in  England,  France,  and  Sweden  has  the  move- 
ment taken  root.  Bringing  back  these  dances 
is,  as  one  writer  points  out,  but  ''restoring  to  the 
people  something  of  their  own  creation,  an  in- 
heritance of  gayety  and  good  will  that  by  some 
mischance  had  been  mislaid,  .  .  .  the  unconscious 
expression  of  their  very  soul  and  character."  —--j} 
At  the  same  time  they  are,  for  the  cultured 
classes,  a  vivid  bringing  back  of  the  simplicity 
and  freshness  of  days  when  village  ballads  and 
dances  were  the  expression  of  pure  emotion. 
Wherever  they  have  been  revived,  they  have 
made  for  health  and  cheerfulness.  To  shop- 
workers  they  have  given  a  new  plasticity,  which 
has  reacted  favorably  upon  mind  as  well  as  body. 
Some  of  the  working-girls,  who  have  first  learned 
these  dances  and  then  gone  out  to  teach  them 
to  others,  have  been  practically  made  over;  and 

117 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

all  have  improved  in  character  and  physique 
well-nigh  beyond  belief.  The  effect  on  the  boy 
members  of  a  club  into  which  the  dances  were 
introduced,  boys  described  as  ''rowdy,  good- 
humored  Londoners, '^  is  no  less  striking.  Says 
one  observer,  ''They  have  been  renewed  by  the 
exercise  which  they  follow  with  untiring  zest, 
from  vague  and  turbulent  people,  a  terror  to  the 
peaceful  wayfarer,  into  at  least  the  makings  of 
responsible  citizens";  and  the  children  of  the 
villages  have  been  changed  from  "mute  and 
unresponsive  creatures  into  tuneful  and  eager 
ones." 

The  head  of  an  English  school  for  training 
teachers  in  physical  culture  says  that  dances  are 
bound  to  replace  to  a  large  extent  certain  forms 
of  drill.  "They  bring  every  muscle  into  play, 
they  are  danced  for  the  love  of  dancing,  and  more 
than  all  they  are  never  dull."  In  the  elementary 
schools,  especially  the  Poor  -  Law  schools,  they 
bring  freshness  into  school  tasks  and  happiness 
into  playtime,  while  in  Quaker  communities 
they  have  accomplished  a  revolution.  In  fact,  all 
England,  rich  and  poor,  noble  and  simple,  old 
and  young,  has  taken  to  the  dance. 

In  the  United  States,  both  social  dancing  and 
folk-dancing  have  found  place,  and  serve  a  good 

Ii8 


DANCING 

purpose  in  preserving  for  immigrants  the  tra- 
ditions of  their  own  countries.  In  Greenwich 
House  Settlement,  New  York,  on  May-Day,  chil- 
dren in  costume  perform  various  folk-dances 
upon  the  asphalt  of  the  street,  their  elders  look- 
ing on  with  great  interest.  Folk-dances  have  had 
their  share  in  the  development  of  the  playground 
movement;  and,  in  each  of  the  congresses  of  the 
National  Playground  Association,  groups  of  chil- 
dren going  through  their  exercises  have  proved 
the  most  pleasing  feature  of  the  exhibitions, 
giving,  according  to  one  observer,  more  inspira- 
tion in  a  few  minutes  than  did  the  addresses 
of  an  entire  day. 

In  the  educational  pageants  that  have  lately 
come  into  vogue,  folk-dancing  has  been  promi- 
nent. For  physical  training,  it  is  greatly  in  de- 
mand as  a  supplement  to  gymnastic  work,  bring- 
ing in  an  element  of  interest  in  exercises  which 
afford  no  opportunity  for  emotional  expression. 
Something  is  claimed  for  it,  too,  by  way  of  illu- 
minating history  and  geography  and  other  sub- 
jects in  schools. 

While  the  value  of  teaching  children  these 
dances  is  for  the  most  part  undisputed,  we  hear 
an  occasional  remonstrance.  A  writer  in  the 
American  Playground  maintains  that  "the  steps 

119 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

and  movements  of  such  dances  are  as  clearly  out 
of  sympathy  with  American  instincts  as  their 
sentiment  is  out  of  sympathy  with  American 
ideas.  .  .  .  They  fail  to  interest  us  because  they 
are  unfamiliar,  and  we  can  understand  the  pan- 
tomime only  superficially.  Moreover,  European 
folk-dance  is  crude  and  gross,  and  representative 
of  the  life  of  the  illiterate  masses,  containing  the 
expression  of  an  ideal  that  is  foreign  to  our  life, 
instinct,  and  education."  He  considers  our  own 
contra-dances  immeasurat)ly  superior,  "  the  prod- 
^uct  of  the  drawing  -  room,  rather  than  of  the 
stable."  They  have  to  do  with  ideals  rather  than 
ideas,  and  are  quite  as  valuable  for  exercise; 
containing  all  that  the  foreign  dances  do,  but 
in  more  acceptable  form. 

This  criticism  is  not  without  just  grounds. 
It  is  often  true  that  in  teaching  folk-dances,  no 
psychological  connection  is  made  with  the  past, 
and  the  training  is  merely  mechanical.  Miss 
Caroline  Crawford  tells  of  how  a  beautiful  old 
mourning-dance  was  introduced  into  a  school 
without  any  explanation  of  its  meaning,  and 
developed  into  a  poise  dance,  purely  gymnastic. 
She  tells  of  a  Maypole  dance  which  she  saw  in  a 
city  park,  and  condemned  as  a  stiff  and  mechan- 
ical performance,  and  contrasts  with  it  a  May- 

120 


DANCING 

pole  party  of  a  very  different  order.  Studying  the 
origin  of  the  Maypole  tree,  in  mythology  and 
allegory,  and  its  great  fundamental  symbolism 
of  the  origin  of  Hfe,  she  replaced  the  regulation 
ribbon-trimmed  pole  by  a  live  blossoming  tree, 
under  which  Uttle  naiads  and  dryads  acted  a 
little  drama,  each  planting  a  tiny  tree  and  offer- 
ing gifts  to  it,  one  the  sun,  another  the  rain,  a 
third  the  wind.  The  children  worked  out  their 
own  ideas  of  how  the  tree  grew  by  means  of  these 
gifts,  and  what  was  best  for  it,  developing  under 
suggestion  their  own  emotional  expression  before 
they  danced  out  the  story. 

Public  schools  are  adding  dancing  to  their 
courses  in  physical  exercise.  In  Boston,  formal 
gymnastics  are  restricted  to  the  five  upper 
grades.  For  the  younger  children,  games,  story- 
plays,  and  physical  exercises  so  shade  into  one 
another  that  often  one  might  be  called  the  other. 
Here  are  introduced  play  and  dancing  appro- 
priate to  each  month  in  the  year.  Starting  with 
simple  rhythmic  movements,  such  as  hand-clap- 
ping and  singing,  to  waltz  and  polka  music,  and 
hopping  in  time  from  one  foot  to  the  other,  the 
pupils  gradually  advance  to  more  difficult  exer- 
cises. They  roll  imaginary  marbles  to  measured 
time,  stooping  and  rising  together.  The  skipping 

121 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

of  jolly  seamen,  the  rolling  of  a  ship,  the  high- 
stepping  of  horses,  the  attitudes  of  dancing-girls, 
and  the  movements  of  skaters,  are  imitated; 
also  the  movements  of  swaying  trees,  the  flow- 
ing of  a  brook,  the  fluttering  of  leaves,  and  the 
bending  of  meadow  grass.  In  all  this  there  is  a 
great  similarity  to  the  exercises  that  find  place 
in  the  attempts  to  curricularize  play;  but  the 
point  to  be  noted  is,  that  a  sense  of  rhythm  is 
cultivated,  and  dancing-steps  and  miming  are 
introduced. 

In  the  schools  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island, 
dancing  is  introduced  under  the  head  of ''  Rhyth- 
mic exercises."  In  Chicago  it  is  not  yet  an  or- 
ganized part  of  public-school  work,  but  it  ap- 
pears in  the  curriculum  of  a  number  of  private 
schools:  in  the  Chicago  Latin  School  for  Girls; 
in  the  University  of  Chicago  Elementary  School, 
and  in  the  High  School  of  the  same  institution. 
The  practice  was  begun  in  the  Dewey  School 
more  than  ten  years  ago.  In  the  High  School,  it 
was  introduced  largely  for  sociological  reasons, 
to  counteract  the  clique  spirit  fostered  by  socie- 
ties and  fraternities  and  by  race  prejudice.  Folk- 
dancing  is  taught  in  the  upper  grades ;  and  while 
at  first  it  was  not  popular  with  the  older  boys, 
they  have   since  become  the   majority  in  the 

122 


DANCING 

classes.  The  results  are  seen  in  better  manners, 
greater  concentration,  alertness,  coordination  of 
physical  and  mental  powers,  as  well  as  in  grace 
and  suppleness  of  body. 

In  the  New  York  public  schools,  dancing  has 
had  a  place  since  1905.  Afternoon  classes  for 
girls  of  the  lower  grades  were  first  started  as  an 
experiment  by  philanthropic  workers;  teachers 
who  volunteered  their  services  received  lessons, 
and  gave  instruction  in  their  turn  to  pupils. 
The  school  board  permitted  the  use  of  school 
gymnasiums.  Classes  for  both  teachers  and  pupils 
have  been  eagerly  sought,  and  their  number 
has  rapidly  increased.  Many  dancing-steps  are 
taught  in  the  grades  in  connection  with  the  regu- 
lar physical  exercises,  so  that  children  enter 
these  afternoon  classes  prepared  for  the  lessons 
there  received.  In  addition,  mixed  evening 
classes  have  been  organized  and  successfully 
carried  out  in  recreation  centers,  where  the  school 
board  furnishes  buildings,  piano,  and  pianist. 

Folk-dancing  is  especially  valuable  as  a  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  of  providing  proper  physical 
exercise  for  girls.  Dr.  Gulick  points  out  that  this 
is  a  very  different  problem  from  providing  it  for 
boys;  for  while  much  the  same  demands  are  now 
made  on  both  sexes,  the  preparation  has  been 

123 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

along  entirely  dissimilar  lines.  He  reminds  us 
that,  besides  the  primary  bodily  differences, 
many  others  as  to  function  and  structure  are  to 
be  noted;  as,  the  difference  in  skeleton,  muscle- 
fiber,  and  amount  of  oxygen  required ;  also  that 
for  centuries  their  respective  occupations  and 
activities  have  been  distinct,  boys  being  trained 
to  hunting,  throwing,  striking,  and  running,  while 
the  muscles  used  in  these  exercises  have  not  been 
developed  to  any  extent  in  girls.  This  difference 
in  training  has  led  to  different  traits  of  character. 
Hence,  in  selecting  dances,  besides  the  physio- 
logical end  in  view,  a  sociological  one  is  not  lost 
sight  of;  group  work  that  will  cultivate  cooper- 
ation and  loyalty,  traits  not  always  found  in 
girls,  is  advocated  to  offset  the  team-play  which 
is  of  acknowledged  value  in  the  training  of  boys. 
Dancing  seems  to  have  found  an  assured  place 
in  gymnasium  practice  and  dramatic  work  in 
colleges  for  women.  Wellesley  has  made  dra- 
matic dancing  a  special  feature  of  her  commence- 
ment entertainments.  With  a  Greek  myth  for 
basis,  or  some  other  beautiful  tale,  the  dancers 
weave  their  spell  on  some  hill  or  dale  of  the 
beautiful  grounds,  while  the  sun  is  setting  on 
a  summer  afternoon.  One  year,  the  spectators 
sat  on  a  knoll  facing  a  long  level  sweep  of  lawn. 

124 


DANCING 

A  large  fir  tree  at  one  side  served  for  greenroom, 
from  which  issued  individual  dancers.  From 
the  far  distance  came  a  group  representing  the 
ocean,  surging  along  in  great  waves  of  light- 
green  drapery,  falling  upon  the  ground  at  inter- 
vals, the  tossing  and  waving  of  their  white  scarfs, 
imitating  the  foam  on  wave-tops,  and  covering 
them  as  they  fell.  At  another  time,  a  young 
woman  marvelously  represented  the  wind  as  she 
sped  furiously  over  the  ground,  making  a  picture 
to  compare  with  some  Greek  statue  with  wind- 
swept garments.  Once  the  dance  dramatized  the 
story  of  Narcissus  and  Echo.  Wood  and  water 
nymphs  in  green  and  brown  came  in  groups  from 
over  the  hill  above  one  of  the  campus  pools ;  now 
this  group,  now  that,  moving  to  the  water's  edge. 
Masses  of  color,  blue,  pink,  lavender,  and  yellow, 
drew  near  over  the  green  slope,  gradually  be- 
coming distinguishable  as  forms  as  they  danced 
to  its  foot  and  were  mirrored  in  the  dark  waters. 
Whatever  the  subjects  chosen,  they  furnished 
scenes  long  to  be  remembered. 

A  visit  to  the  gymnasium  of  the  college  in 
winter  shows  the  practice  which  leads  up  to  the 
outdoor  rehearsals  in  the  spring.  Here,  Miss  Hill, 
the  instructor  who  introduced  this  aesthetic  or 
^'natural"  dancing  at  Wellesley,  put  her  pupils 

12; 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

through  their  jive-finger  exercises,  so  to  speak, 
giving  them  in  a  few  lessons  the  various  notes, 
which,  later,  they  were  to  combine.  Very  Httle 
actual  teaching  of  steps  was  apparent.  The  girls 
seemingly  followed  in  their  movements  the  in- 
structor's leadership,  or  were  guided  by  the 
character  of  the  accompanying  music. 

In  similar  manner  pupils  of  Jacques  Dalcroze, 
at  Hellerau,  near  Dresden,  interpret  musical 
compositions  by  the  dance;  but  they  do  so  only 
after  they  have  mastered  a  definite  and  carefully 
worked-out  method  known  as  "Eurhythmies." 
Originally  intended  for  his  music  pupils,  he  now 
claims  for  his  system  a  wider  application.  With 
the  aid  of  the  psychologist,  M.  Claparede,  he  is 
placing  it  upon  a  scientific  basis,  maintaining 
"that  it  trains  the  nervous  and  muscular  sys- 
tems, bringing  body  and  brain  into  closer  coor- 
dination, developing  powers  of  attention,  con- 
centration, and  will,  giving  understanding  and 
self-reliance,  and  helping  to  regain  natural 
powers  of  expressiveness." 

Almost  every  social  settlement  recognizes  danc- 
ing as  a  powerful  agency  in  counteracting  the 
influences  of  the  dance -hall.  At  Hull  House 
dancing-classes  have  been  held  from  the  earliest 
days  both  for  advanced  pupils  and  beginners; 

126 


DANCING 

and  in  them  the  rules  of  conventional  society  are 
enforced.  To  quote  from  the  Hull  House  Year- 
Book  for  1906,  ^'The  residents  of  Hull  House 
are  increasingly  convinced  of  the  value  of  dancing 
as  a  recreative  pleasure  to  young  people  engaged 
in  the  monotonous  work  of  modern  industry, 
too  often  entirely  sedentary,  or  of  a  character 
which  calls  for  the  use  of  but  few  muscles.  The 
well-regulated  dancing-party  affords  an  outlet 
for  the  natural  high  spirits  of  youth  which  have 
been  repressed  through  the  long  day." 

Folk-dancing  is  a  prominent  feature  of  the 
physical  training  in  Y.W.C.A.  work.  Even 
churches  are  making  use  of  it.  The  annual  report 
for  1908  of  All  Souls  Church  in  Chicago  showed 
that  the  work  of  its  gymnasium  department  in- 
cluded such  dancing,  and  in  the  last  few  years 
many  more  have  introduced  it. 

For  many  years  the  therapeutic  value  of  danc- 
ing for  the  insane  has  been  recognized;  and 
weekly  dances,  confined,  of  course,  to  the  milder 
patients,  are  given  in  most  asylums.  The  value, 
too,  of  rhythm  in  training  the  feeble-minded  has 
long  since  been  acknowledged. 

So  far,  stress  has  been  laid  upon  the  value  of 
dancing  in  the  physical  and  mental  training  of 
the  young.   Rightly  controlled  it  has,  besides,  a 

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DRAMATIC   INSTINCT  IN   EDUCATION 

place  in  the  struggle  against  vice.  The  dangers  of 
the  dance-hall  with  its  allurement  to  immorahty 
are  too  well  known  to  need  description;  but  to 
the  girl  who  leads  a  dreary,  monotonous  life, 
they  are  so  great  a  temptation  that  it  takes  a 
strong  charm  to  counteract  their  influence.  A 
well-known  social  worker  in  New  York,  Mrs. 
Charles  Israels,  has  recognized  that,  far  from 
attempting  to  do  away  with  the  dance,  we  must 
furnish  more  attractive  opportunities  for  it. 
Accordingly  she  has  been  active  in  an  effort  to 
provide  model  public  dance-halls  in  New  York, 
where  young  people  may  have  a  good  floor  and 
good  music  and  come  under  proper  supervision 
and  instruction.  Ninety-five  per  cent  of  the 
working-girls  of  New  York  go  to  dance-halls,  of 
which  there  are  nearly  seven  hundred  (counting 
''dancing-academies"),  with  an  average  attend- 
ance of  one  hundred  thousand  a  week.  Ninety 
per  cent  of  these  girls  are  under  twenty-one,  and 
forty-five  per  cent  under  sixteen.  Owing  to  the 
success,  both  in  point  of  attendance  and  arrange- 
ment, of  the  dances  in  the  park  field-houses  of 
Chicago,  philanthropic  societies,  such  as  the 
Chicago  Juvenile  Protective  Association,  advo- 
cate city  dance-halls  on  the  same  lines  as  that 
of  the  field-house,  and  as  easy  of  access  as  the 

128 


DANCING 

commercial  dance  -  hall.  Such  halls  might  be- 
come self-supporting.  The  association  has  al- 
ready established  one;  playgrounds  in  Phila- 
delphia are  to  have  them;  and,  in  Milwaukee, 
municipal  balls  are  now  given  under  proper  reg- 
ulation. Opinion  in  favor  of  the  establishing  of 
municipal  dance-halls  has  been  rapidly  growing; 
in  Cleveland  there  are  already  some  which  are 
self-supporting. 

If  one  asks,  ''What  educational  value  is  there 
in  the  stage-dancing  in  vogue?"  we  answer,  "At 
its  best,  that  of  a  picture,  a  concert,  or  any 
other  art  product,  —  a  passive,  not  an  active 
value.  It  indicates  an  advance  in  ideals,  and 
promises  a  new  source  of  culture  and  enjoy- 
ment." In  this  renascence  of  the  art,  some  few 
performers  are  returning  to  the  old  tradition 
of  ballet  -  dancing,  as,  for  example.  Miss  Adeline 
Genee,  who  ranks  as  the  true  successor  of  Tag- 
lioni  and  Fanny  Elssler;  while  Pavlova,  Maud- 
kin,  and  other  Russians  form  a  link  between  the 
old  style  and  the  new,  by  bringing  in  not  only 
their  own  national  spirit,  but  further  inspiration 
from  the  Orient  and  from  Greece. 

The  new  school  aims  to  express  in  dancing  the 
spirit  of  some  work  of  art,  a  picture,  a  poem,  a 
musical  symphony.    Apparently,  the  interpre- 

129 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

tation  rests  not  so  much  on  a  solid  basis  of  tech- 
nique as  upon  natural  endowment  and  power  to 
express  sentiment  and  emotion,  though  subject 
to  a  hidden  law  far  more  difficult  to  master  than 
that  of  the  regular  ballet.  It  holds  the  dancer 
to  be  the  medium,  through  whom  the  feeling 
aroused  by  a  story  or  symphony  is  conveyed. 
Foremost  among  these  interpretative  dancers  is 
Isadora  Duncan,  who  has  been  expounding  and 
illustrating  her  art  for  many  years.  Dancing 
always  with  bare  feet,  in  a  costume  of  clinging 
drapery,  her  appearance  at  first  aroused  un- 
favorable comment.  Her  manner  of  presenting 
the  dance  was  a  noticeable  departure  from  ordi- 
nary standards  and  freed  from  all  convention. 
It  recalled,  according  to  one  critic,  *'the  rhyth- 
mic movements  of  nature,  the  spontaneous, 
joyous  activity  of  children,  or  the  natural,  un- 
fettered dance-motives  of  untutored  peoples." 
The  artist's  attitude  toward  her  art  is  revealed 
in  her  great  aversion  to  being  photographed. 
''One  cannot,"  she  says,  ''photograph  an  idea, 
still  less  a  thought,  a  sentiment;  then  why  should 
one  wish  to  photograph  my  dances,  since  they  are 
the  reflection  of  my  sentiments  and  thoughts?" 
Such  originality  has  lent  itself  to  ridicule  and 
caricature;  yet  for  the  most  part  she  has  been 

130 


DANCING 

taken  seriously.  Some  years  ago  she  founded  a 
school  at  Griinewald,  Berlin,  where  for  a  time  she 
took  young  children  and  trained  them  for  the 
stage,  keeping  them  until  they  were  grown.  Be- 
sides the  ordinary  instruction  of  schools,  they 
studied  the  best  art  of  different  periods  and  were 
brought  under  such  influence  as  would  develop 
a  feeling  for  form  and  rhythm. 

Because  of  Miss  Duncan's  position  as  pioneer 
in  this  movement,  it  may  be  well  to  give  its 
underlying  philosophy  in  her  own  words:  — 

We  had  our  dancing-lesson  in  the  woods  this  morn- 
ing. It  was  glorious  weather;  and  when  I  see  the 
children  dancing  like  this  under  the  trees,  I  wish  we 
could  always  have  our  lessons  here.  I  spoke  long 
and  earnestly  to  the  children,  and  they  seemed  to 
understand  what  I  sought  to  make  clear  to  them; 
namely,  the  difference  between  dancing  in  the  open 
air  and  dancing  within  four  walls;  and  that  when  they 
came  to  dance  on  the  stage,  they  were  always  to  try 
to  imagine  that  they  were  in  the  open  air;  that 
there  were  no  walls  around  them,  and  that  they  were 
stretching  out  their  arms  to  the  sky.  And  I  showed 
them  how  deep  and  strong  were  the  movements 
they  saw  around  them;  how  much  energy  was  at 
work,  even  in  the  tiny  body  of  the  butterfly  as  it 
fluttered  hither  and  thither.  I  pointed  out  how 
strong  and  rhythmical  the  wind  was  in  the  tree-tops ; 
and   the   children  spoke   among    themselves,    and 

131 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

showed  me  the  difference  in  the  movements  with 
their  own  bodies.  We  go  to  the  woods  every  sunny 
morning  and  I  believe  we  learn  a  great  deal. 

Again,  speaking  of  a  child  on  the  shore,  Miss 
Duncan  says:  — 

Her  dance  by  the  sea  seemed  to  me  to  contain, 
in  little,  the  whole  problem  at  which  I  am  working. 
.  .  .  She  dances  because  she  is  full  of  the  joy  of  life. 
She  dances  because  the  waves  dance  before  her  eyes ; 
because  the  winds  are  dancing;  because  she  can  feel 
the  rhythm  of  the  dance  throughout  the  whole  of 
Nature.  To  her  it  is  a  joy  to  dance,  to  me  it  is  a  joy 
to  watch  her.  It  is  summer  now  here  by  the  sea,  and 
life  is  filled  with  joy;  but  I  think  of  winter  in  town, 
in  the  streets,  in  the  houses;  of  life  in  the  towns  in 
the  gloomy  winter.  How  can  the  life  of  Nature,  the 
joy  of  summer  and  sunshine,  the  joy  of  a  child  danc- 
ing by  the  sea  —  how  can  all  this  beauty  be  strewn 
in  the  towns?  Can  the  dancer  suggest  all  this  and 
remind  men  of  it  in  the  winter-time  in  the  cities? 
Can  she  call  up  in  me  the  same  delight  which  she 
is  giving  me  now,  as  I  sit  here  on  the  beach  and 
watch  her  dancing?  I  look  closely  and  study  her 
movements.  What  is  this  dance  she  is  dancing?  I 
see  that  they  are  simple  movements,  and  steps  she 
has  learned  at  the  school  during  the  past  two  years. 
But  she  invests  them  with  her  own  spontaneous  child- 
like feelings,  her  own  childlike  happiness.  She  is 
dancing  what  she  has  been  taught;  but  the  move- 
ments  taught   her   are  so  completely  in   harmony 

1^2 


DANCING 

with  her  childlike  nature  that  they  seem  to  spring 
direct  from  her  inmost  being.  In  the  memoranda 
for  my  method  of  instruction,  I  have  laid  down  that 
the  child  must  not  be  taught  to  make  movements, 
but  her  soul  as  it  grows  to  maturity  must  be  guided 
and  instructed;  in  other  words,  her  body  must  be 
taught  to  express  itself  by  means  of  motions  which 
are  natural  to  it.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the 
meaning  of  every  motion  must  be  explained  to  the 
child  in  words ;  but  that  the  motion  must  be  of  such 
a  nature  that  the  child  feels  the  reason  for  it  in  every 
fiber.  In  this  way  the  child  will  become  versed  in 
the  simple  language  of  gesture. 

Artistic  or  dramatic  dancing  has  entered  upon 
a  new  era,  or,  more  truly,  it  is  reviving  the  old 
feeling  for  it  of  the  Greeks  to  whom  all  nature 
spoke  of  invisible  but  active  intelligences.  But 
the  number  of  creative  dancers  being  small,  their 
vogue  and  the  attraction  of  their  method  will  too 
probably  result  in  the  mere  copying  of  move- 
ments by  imitators,  until  at  length  their  so-called 
^'interpretative"  and  "natural"  types  will  pass 
inevitably  into  a  definite,  inelastic  form.  Yet 
the  present  phase  is  valuable,  since  it  has  brought 
in  a  vitality  that  was  wanting.  Furthermore,  in 
its  general  effect  upon  the  theater-going  public, 
although  it  may  justly  be  criticized  in  many 
of  its  developments,  and  its  moral  influence  is 

133 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

sometimes  bad,  it  is  nevertheless  undeniable 
that,  because  of  it,  the  public  now  demands  a 
more  artistic  and  inspiring  type  than  it  did 
twenty  years  ago.  The  outlook,  therefore,  is 
hopeful;  not,  perhaps,  for  a  return  to  the  Greek 
ideal,  which  is  alien  to  our  feeling,  but  for  a  mod- 
ern embodiment  of  the  Greek  love  of  truth  and 
beauty  in  exquisitely  gentle  movements  con- 
forming to  definite  laws  of  proportion  and  har- 
mony, thus  expressing  the  dramatic  instinct  on 
the  higher  plane  of  aesthetics. 


VIII 

STORY-TELLING 

We  have  seen  that  play  and  dancing  are  nature's 
own  means  of  developing  mankind.  An  awaken- 
ing of  the  aesthetic  sense  appears  in  dancing,  and 
determines  it  to  a  later  period  than  that  of  play. 
Both  play  and  dancing  call  into  exercise  the 
intellect;  but  the  intellect  first  becomes  conscious 
of  itself  in  story-telling. 

In  the  Far  East,  story-telling  has  still  an  im- 
portant place,  and  is  a  profession.  In  China,  the 
story-teller  is  moralist  and  preacher;  in  Japan, 
he  is  more  the  artist;  seated  upon  his  mat  with 
tea  and  smoking-apparatus  at  hand,  surrounded 
by  groups  of  eager  listeners,  he  is  still  a  familiar 
sight.  One  has  but  to  read  the  fascinating  tales 
of  Japanese  folklore  to  see  how  they  have  deter- 
mined the  poetic  and  romantic  quality  of  Japa- 
nese art;  and  it  is  fortunate  that,  with  the  introduc- 
tion of  Western  learning,  the  teaching  of  tales 
on  which  so  many  generations  of  Japanese  chil- 
dren have  been  reared  has  not  been  discarded. 
In  the  woman's  university  at  Tokyo,  it  enters 
into  the  curriculum. 

135 


DRAMATIC   INSTINCT   IN   EDUCATION 

In  Greece  and  Rome,  heroic  legends  were  a 
means  of  awakening  national  spirit  in  boys  and 
youths,  making  them  daring  and  courageous, 
and  aiding  generally  in  the  moulding  of  character. 
In  the  North,  saga-men,  scops,  and  bards  recited 
the  deeds  of  gods  and  men,  and  stimulated 
the  imagination  of  youthful  hearers,  while  they 
soothed  the  old.  In  mediaeval  times,  minstrels 
and  troubadours  went  from  castle  to  castle  re- 
peating their  tales  and  legends  in  song;  and  even 
now,  in  a  few  places,  as  in  Brittany,  the  story- 
teller goes  from  village  to  village,  though  the 
profession  has  become  somewhat  debased.  In 
Ireland,  the  peasantry  still  tell  the  tales  that  have 
descended  by  word  of  mouth  through  genera- 
tions. Among  primitive  peoples,  most  of  all, 
has  story-telling  been  a  power.  Tales  of  the  mys- 
terious workings  of  nature,  traditions  of  tribe 
and  race,  and  of  the  personal  prowess  of  fore- 
fathers, have  stimulated  thought  and  thereby 
raised  the  race  in  the  scale  of  humanity.  Fi- 
nally, story- telling,  is  fulfilling  a  mission  for  the 
children  of  foreigners  in  the  United  States,  by 
preserving  the  traditions  of  their  fatherlands. 

Many  of  the  stories  told  by  savage  peoples  are 
of  great  dramatic  and  literary  merit.  Tales  of 
ancient  nations  gathered  by  students  of  folklore 

136 


STORY-TELLING 

not  only  form  a  valuable  contribution  to  world 
literature,  but  give  insight  into  the  mental  and 
emotional  life  of  different  races  that  could  have 
been  gained  by  no  other  means.  As  a  literary 
art,  story-telling  has  now  reached  a  high  state 
of  perfection,  and  educators  are  turning  it  to 
account.  First  in  the  kindergarten,  and  now  in 
some  of  the  schools,  it  is  a  part  of  regular  routine 
work;  in  others  it  is  a  form  of  recreation.  Its 
use  in  connection  with  dramatic  work  of  the 
primary  grades  has  been  treated  in  a  former 
chapter. 

Numerous  attempts  have  been  made  of  late 
years  to  tabulate  children's  interest  in  stories, 
and  make  out  a  school  curriculum  according  to 
the  different  stages  of  mental  development;  but 
they  are  as  yet  too  incomplete  to  furnish  any 
scientific  foundation  for  pedagogy.  As  far  as  they 
have  gone,  they  appear  to  parallel  the  order  of 
development  for  the  race;  which  has  had  its 
periods  of  interest  in  myth  and  folk- tale,  Thier- 
epos  and  fairy  tale,  each  suited  to  a  particular 
stage  in  its  upward  progress:  jingles  and  counting 
out  rhymes;  Mother-Goose  stories;  stories  of 
action,  oftentimes  a  mere  string  of  incidents,  in 
child  or  animal  life;  stories  that  appeal  to  the 
*' feral"  age;  then  fairy  tales;  then  the  realistic 

137 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

tale  and  stories  of  adventure;  and,  last  of  all, 
myth  and  the  romantic  and  religious  story.  But 
all  these  different  phases  of  interest  overlap  one 
another,  and  many  of  them  last  through  hfe. 
Especially  is  this  true  with  stories  that  appeal 
because  of  their  dramatic  elements. 

Each  of  these  different  story  groups  has  its 
peculiar  educational  value.  Fairy  tales  may  be 
used  for  arousing  the  emotional  nature;  fables, 
for  giving  practical  truths  in  a  concise  and  telling 
form;  folk-  and  animal-tales,  for  bringing  chil- 
dren into  touch  with  nature  and  for  presenting 
truth  in  the  guise  of  images;  myths,  for  their 
appeal  to  the  race  instinct  (these,  in  the  opinion 
of  Dr.  Hall,  coming  as  near  pure  object-teaching 
as  ethics  can  get;  and,  according  to  Miss  Blow, 
j  foreshadowing  conquest  of  the  will) ;  legend,  for 
"^  stimulating  historical  imagination  and  hero- 
worship;  nonsense-tales,  for  cultivating  a  sense 
of  humor;  and  finally,  carefully  selected  love 
stories  as  a  means  of  harmless  discharge  for  the 
emotions,  and  for  developing  a  lofty  ideal  of  sex. 
This  last  is  advocated  by  Miss  Ellen  Key,  the 
Swedish  educator  and  writer. 

There  is  just  now  a  manifest  tendency,  often, 
carried  to  excess,  to  correlate  story-telling  with 
the  studies  of  the  curriculum.    Nature  stories, 

138 


STORY-TELLING 

including  myths  that  embody  scientific  truth, 
are  used  in  connection  with  nature  study;  and 
l^storical  stories  which  appeal  to  hero-worship 
and  patriotism  are  correlated  with  history  and 
geography.  Some  are  used  in  the  study  of  Eng- 
lish for  grammar  lessons,  sentence  construction, 
etc.;  others  to  create  interest  in  reading,  or  to 
furnish  models  for  written  composition  and  oral 
expression.  In  the  last,  children  of  the  seK-con- 
scious  age  are  lamentably  deficient,  and  poverty 
of  language  is  noticeable  in  the  high  school.  Spell- 
ing-fists have  been  made  up  from  stories;  the 
illustration  furnishes  a  lesson  in  drawing,  when 
the  children  picture  not  only  what  they  see  but 
formulate  their  own  ideas.  Some  of  the  uses 
seem  very  far-fetched  and  carried  to  a  ridiculous 
extreme;  the  teaching  of  singing,  clay-modeling, 
and  even  wood-  and  metal -work  by  means  of 
stories,  have  all  been  advocated. 

Besides  the  advantages  to  be  gained  from 
special  groups  as  already  enumerated,  there  are 
general  pedagogical  advantages  in  story-telling. 
Among  these  the  training  and  concentration  of 
attention  is  often  placed  first.  It  is  claimed,  too, 
that  for  the  child  whose  power  of  comprehension 
is  beyond  his  power  of  reading,  an  obstacle  in 
the  way  of  his  educational  development  is  re- 

139 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

moved.  The  stress  so  constantly  laid  upon  the 
appeal  to  the  eye  is  offset  by  the  appeal  to  the 
ear,  and  mental  types  are  developed  with  more 
freedom.  For  reducing  self-consciousness  — ■  the 
source  of  torment  and  hindrance  to  the  progress 
of  so  many  children  —  story-telling  is  also  val- 
luable.  It  relaxes  the  rigidity  of  schoolroom  re- 
^  gime;  it  humanizes  the  relation  of  pupil  and 
teacher,  and  has  been  found  to  give  a  better 
moral  tone.  It  creates  ideas  of  right  living,  and 
gives  the  child  standards  which  not  infrequently, 
years  afterward,  stand  him  in  good  stead.  It 
stimulates  the  imagination;  it  leads  to  invention; 
it  develops  aesthetic  appreciation,  and  stocks 
the  mind  with  abundant  working  material. 
And  still  other  important  uses  of  it  are  to  be 
noted  in  the  realm  of  pedagogy.  By  simply  giving 
pleasure,  stories  accompHsh  an  important  end. 
As  in  play,  the  pleasure  reacts  on  the  nervous 
system,  and  benefits  the  bodily  functioning  in 
many  ways.  Best  of  all,  it  educates  the  emotions.  - 
Mrs.  Porter  Lander  McClintock,  in  her  book 
Literature  in  the  Elementary  School,  points  out 
that  stories  should  cultivate  the  emotional  side  of 
children's  natures,  ''effecting  in  them  that  puri- 
fying discharge  which  Aristotle  regarded  as  one 
of  the  helpful  offices  of  literature."    She  speaks 

140 


STORY-TELLING 

of  the  "desiccating  effect"  of  the  American 
school  upon  the  emotional  nature,  and  empha- 
sizes the  need  of  calKng  out  and  exercising  the 
feelings.  A  story,  she  says,  should  be  told  to 
children,  rather  than  read  to  them,  and  in  so 
doing  it  is  important  to  preserve  dramatic  values. 

Besides  its  use  in  the  grammar  school  and  high 
school,  story- telling  is  growing  in  favor  in  other 
institutions.  Stories  have  long  been  told  in  Sun- 
day schools,  but  costumes  and  action  are  now 
added  to  make  the  narrative  more  lifelike.  This 
has  lately  been  advocated  by  Dean  Hodges  of 
the  Episcopal  Theological  School  at  Cambridge. 
Churches  utilize  it  also,  in  their  effort  to  deal 
with  practical  social  problems  in  institutional 
work.  For  example,  St.  Bartholomew's,  New 
York,  has  estabhshed  a  Wednesday  afternoon 
story-hour,  when  boys  illustrate  the  stories  told 
them,  acting  them  out  on  the  spur  of  the  moment, 
thus  making  living  pictures;  so  that  the  day  has 
in  fact  come  to  be  called  ''Living-Picture  Day" 
and  draws  large  audiences. 

Where  the  teaching  of  religion  in  schools  is  not 
sanctioned,  story-telling  becomes  an  important 
factor  for  moral  education,  and  the  old  Bible 
stories  furnish  the  best  of  all  material  for  the 
purpose.    The  story  of  Joseph  is  found  to  be 

141 


/ 


/ 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

almost  unequaled  for  its  interest,  and  those  of 
David  and  Daniel,  as  well  as  many  others,  are 
widely  popular. 

Story-telling  has  also  come  into  the  work  of 
boys'  clubs.  Professor  Burr,  of  the  Y.M.C.A. 
training-school  in  Springfield,  believing  that  im- 
pressions from  stories  should  result  in  expression 
by  action,  has  introduced  a  graded  course  into 
the  federated  boys'  clubs  conducted  by  students 
of  the  association,  and  suggests  coupling  the 
stories  with  certain  activities  and  occupations; 
with  nature  stories,  tramps  in  the  woods  and  the 
care  of  plants;  with  tales  of  individual  prowess, 
athletics  and  gymnastic  work  as  well  as  construc- 
tive work  of  all  sorts, —  clay-modeling,  knife- 
work,  etc.;  with  stories  of  great  leaders,  games 
which  involve  team-play;  with  altruistic  stories, 
some  service  in  behalf  of  less  fortunate  boys. 

For  many  years  in  many  libraries,  a  story- 
hour  has  been  instituted  in  order  to  direct  chil- 
dren to  the  best  books.  The  Carnegie  Library 
of  Pittsburg  began  systematic  story-telling  to 
large  groups  in  1899,  and  has  arranged  courses 
of  stories  selected  from  romantic  and  imagina- 
tive literature  to  extend  over  eight  years. 

While  this  has  been  in  large  measure  success- 
ful, the  objection  has  been  brought  against  it 

142 


STORY-TELLING 

that,  although  library  reports  show  that  thou- 
sands of  children  have  been  interested,  and  the 
general  circulation  of  children's  books  increased, 
the  same  effect  can  be  produced  by  the  librarians 
without  the  story-hour.  It  is  claimed  that  story- 
telling in  Ubraries  is  out  of  place;  teachers  know 
better  how  and  when  to  introduce  it,  and  can 
reach  hundreds  of  children  instead  of  one  class 
of  forty  or  so,  weekly.  Many  libraries  provide 
a  story-teller  to  visit  schools,  who,  by  her  story- 
telling, brings  children  flocking  to  the  library. 
Instruction  in  story-telling  now  finds  place  in 
the  preparatory  schools  for  both  librarians  and 
teachers.  In  the  training-school  for  children's 
librarians,  conducted  by  the  Pittsburg  Library, 
all  students  are  obliged  to  take  a  course  in  story- 
telling, which  includes  practice  as  well  as  lec- 
tures. Pupils  in  normal  schools  also  practice 
telling  stories,  illustrating  them  with  colored 
chalk  on  the  blackboard,  so  that  an  appeal  is 
made  to  eye  and  ear  at  once. 

With  the  sudden  increase  of  popular  interest 
in  story- telHng,  its  possibilities  as  a  profession 
have  been  greatly  augmented,  almost  indeed 
created.  Many  trained  story-tellers  and  public 
performers  are  in  the  field.  They  travel  from 
place  to  place  as  entertainers,  or  sometimes  in 

143 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

the  interest  of  a  publishing  house  that  is  intro- 
ducing manuals  and  primers  for  reading-systems 
in  which  story-telling  figures  prominently.  Some- 
times, too,  they  are  engaged  for  public  lectures 
and  demonstrations  before  a  body  of  teachers 
who  were  educated  before  the  days  when  story- 
telling had  become  a  part  of  normal-school  train- 
ing. 

For  institutions  of  various  sorts,  not  only  edu- 
cational but  philanthropic,  the  story-hour  has 
many  possibilities;  but,  as  has  often  happened 
with  other  educational  and  sociological  depar- 
tures, those  in  which  the  need  is  greatest  are 
usually  the  last  to  be  reached.  Beginnings  are 
being  made,  however,  which  promise  hopefully; 
for  example,  in  the  "  Girls'  Home  and  Refuge''  in 
Darlington,  Pennsylvania,  a  Sunday  night  story- 
hour  is  held  for  those  who  prefer  it  to  attending 
church.  Miss  Helen  Glenn  tells  of  how  eagerly 
girls  who  have  not  had  fairy  tales  in  childhood 
seize  upon  them  at  seventeen  or  eighteen,  one 
reason  being  "because  they  always  end  happily." 
The  good  effect  of  the  story-hour  upon  these  girls 
has  been  striking. 

Among  other  uses  there  is  the  systematic  em- 
ployment of  the  story  for  sick  and  neurotic 
patients.    That  story-telling  is  coming  to  play 

144 


STORY-TELLING 

its  part  as  therapy  is  well  illustrated  at  the  Adams 
Nervine  Asylum  in  Jamaica  Plain.  Miss  Susan 
Tracey,  superintendent  of  nurses  there,  realizing 
that  nurses  fail,  not  so  much  in  the  physical  care 
of  the  sick  as  in  the  companionable  qualities  and 
in  ability  to  interest  convalescing  patients  (for, 
as  she  says,  "a  really  good  nurse  takes  care  of 
her  patient's  thoughts"),  employs  a  teacher  from 
the  Boston  School  of  Expression  to  give  instruc- 
tion to  the  nurses  of  the  institution.  The  teacher 
who  conducts  the  course  tries  by  various  means 
to  develop  the  personality  of  her  pupils,  broad-  -^ 
ening  their  sympathies  and  developing  the  imag-  ' 
ination,  —  the  two  fundamental  elements,  she 
claims,  in  dramatic  interest. 

In  settlements,  from  their  very  inception, 
story-telling  has  been  used  as  a  means  of  recrea- 
tion and  getting  into  sympathetic  relations  with 
children.  The  same  may  be  said  of  vacation 
schools,  where  the  story-hour  is  frequently  the 
greatest  of  all  attractions.  In  the  evening  recrea- 
tion centers  and  boys'  clubs,  too,  the  story-hour 
plays  a  prominent  part,  both  in  this  country  and 
in  the  Old  World ;  as,  for  example,  in  the  "  Happy 
Evenings"  in  England,  of  which  it  is  an  especial 
feature. 

In  the  Playground  movement,  story  -  telling 

145 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

has  quite  a  r61e;  and  the  successful  playground 
assistant  must  count  this  among  her  accomplish- 
ments, though  in  many  cities  the  professional 
story-teller  is  regularly  employed.  While  the 
swings  and  other  apparatus  are  in  use  and 
rougher  sports  going  on,  there  is  almost  always 
to  be  seen,  in  some  secluded  part  of  the  grounds, 
a  Httle  group  gathered  around  a  story-teller  in 
rapt  attention. 

The  ''Story-Tellers'  League"  which  started 
in  1903  at  the  summer  school  in  Knoxville, 
Tennessee,  is  perhaps  indicative  of  the  interest 
that  has  developed  on  every  side.  Informal  meet- 
ings held  at  twilight  on  the  university  campus 
grew  into  an  organization  which  afterwards  be- 
came a  national  league.  It  not  only  furnished 
a  model  for  similar  meetings  held  at  other  sum- 
mer schools,  but  for  fifty  or  more  other  leagues 
in  various  States,  with  a  membership  now  of  over 
four  thousand,  besides  junior  leagues  among 
children.  The  purpose  of  the  leagues,  according 
to  the  president  of  the  national  association,  Mr. 
Wyche,  is  to  ''rediscover  life's  best  stories  and 
retell  them  with  love  and  sympathy."  The  pub- 
lication known  as  The  Story-Hour  serves  as  an 
organ  of  the  association. 

Yet  with  all  this  increase  of  story-telling  and 

146 


STORY-TELLING 

diversity  in  its  application  among  educators, 
moralists,  social  workers,  and  religionists,  dis- 
senting voices  are  now  and  again  heard,  here  and 
there  a  note  of  protest  is  sounded.  It  is  queried 
whether  stories  on  all  occasions  and  for  all 
purposes,  upon  every  conceivable  subject,  in 
school  and  out,  are  really  productive  of  the  best 
educational  results.  Will  not  the  surfeit  of  stories 
produce  confusion  in  the  child's  mind?  Will 
not  attainment  with  so  little  effort  weaken  the 
power  of  application,  and  destroy  the  habit  of 
work?  It  is  said  that  children  frequently  remem- 
ber a  story,  and  forget  the  point  it  was  meant 
to  teach.  A  writer  in  a  recent  number  of  Child 
Life  gives  a  case  where  three  stories,  told  for 
three  separate  purposes,  had  fallen  into  the  one 
category  of  heroes  of  romance.  The  complaint 
also  has  been  made  that  children  coming  from 
the  kindergarten  lack  interest  in  study,  and  too 
frequently  insist  that  lessons  be  put  in  story 
form.  Many  teachers  think  that  stories  as  a 
medium  for  information,  and  those  that  are  used 
for  introducing  any  kind  of  handiwork,  are  out 
of  place.  They  condemn  particular  kinds  of 
stories  for  special  reasons;  ghost  -  stories,  for 
example,  on  the  ground  that  they  tend  to  make 
children  more  timid  than  they  are  by  nature; 

147 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

and  many  of  the  old-time  favorites  for  their  lack 
of  moral  teaching  or  their  harmful  emotional 
reactions;  ^'Little  Red  Riding-Hood,"  for  ex- 
ample, or  "Rip  Van  Winkle." 

All  these,  however,  are  criticisms  not  of  story- 
telling itself,  but  of  its  handling.  Doubtless 
there  is  much  unwise  use  of  it  at  present.  No  one 
would  advocate  overfeeding,  even  on  good  food. 
But  as  for  the  stories  chosen,  those  that  have 
been  favorites  for  centuries,  appearing  again  and 
again  in  the  same  or  similar  form  and  among 
many  peoples,  would  seem  to  be  safe  enough.  If 
all  the  world  favorites  that  present  savage  ele- 
ments or  enlist  our  sympathies  for  weak  or  de- 
linquent characters  are  to  be  rejected,  the  treas- 
ures of  literature  would  be  sadly  depleted. 

A  much  stronger  objection  to  story-telling  is 
that  it  seems  to  palliate  lying;  but  this  is  to  lose 
sight  of  the  ever-present  dramatic  instinct  in 
human  nature.  Children  love  to  invent  little 
stories  and  tell  them;  less  often  they  write  them. 
The  child  who  lives  in  a  world  of  fancy  delights 
to  picture  to  other  children  this  little  world  of 
his  very  own,  in  which  older  people  have  no 
share.  The  maturing  boy  delights  his  friends  with 
tales  of  improbable  happenings,  satisfying  in 
this  way  his  hunger  for  invention  and  expression, 

148 


STORY-TELLING 

and  his  desire  for  appreciation;  craving  the  stim- 
ulation which  the  creative  artist  gets,  when  he 
caters  to  his  audience.  A  vivid  imagination, 
the  desire  to  move  and  startle  others,  the  pas- 
sion for  acting-out  result  in  what  the  unimagi- 
native call  lies;  but  the  things  told  are  very  real 
to  the  teller.  It  is  possible  that  a  too  vivid 
imagination  in  children  should  be  curbed;  yet 
there  is  danger  that,  in  an  age  of  exact  science 
and  materialism,  imagination  will  be  dulled. 

It  is  normal  for  adolescent  girls  to  indulge  in 
day-dreams.  They  crave  something  removed 
from  everyday  existence,  and  this  leads  them  to 
weave  romances  about  themselves,  their  friends 
and  surroundings;  they  tell  of  the  most  extraor- 
dinary and  unbelievable  experiences.  But  only 
those  whose  nervous  system  is  unsound  are  likely 
to  become  morbid.  They  pass  through  this  phase 
and  forget  it. 

As  to  whether  story-tellers  are  born  or  made, 
there  can  be  little  diversity  of  opinion;  without 
doubt,  story-telling  is  a  special  gift.  Still  it  is 
possible  to  cultivate,  enlarge,  and  enrich  it. 
Most  of  the  suggestions  for  so  doing,  found  in 
compilations  and  various  story-telHng  manuals, 
are  indefinite  and  impracticable,  and  only  val- 
uable as  showing  beginners  their  handicaps  and 

149 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

limitations.  "Vivid  mental  imagery,"  for  ex- 
ample, and  "will-power  sufficient  to  overcome 
self-consciousness  and  give  hearers  a  feeling  of 
power  in  reserve,"  are  not  to  be  acquired  at  will. 
Even  a  "full,  clear,  flexible,  well -modulated 
voice,  expressive  features  and  graceful  move- 
ments," are  natural  assets;  while  "tact,  intui- 
tion, magnetism,"  and  all  that  is  implied  by 
"charm"  and  "personality,"  are  either  beyond 
the  reach  of  individual  attainment,  or,  if  latent, 
are  brought  out  oftener  by  indirect  influences 
than  by  conscious  effort  or  by  mechanical  train- 
ing directed  to  that  end.  But  some  points  may 
well  be  emphasized;  as  the  necessity  of  telling  a 
story  simply  and  dramatically,  and  of  adapting 
it  to  the  age  and  mental  development  of  the 
hearers.  For  this,  there  is  no  better  natural 
qualification  than  strong  common-sense,  and  no 
better  preparation  than  a  good  course  in  child- 
study  and  such  training  as  is  given  in  any  good 
school  of  oratory  and  dramatics. 

With  such  training  one  will  not  choose  Jap- 
anese fairy  tales,  for  example,  for  American 
children;  there  is  too  little  in  Eastern  life  and 
customs  to  attract  them.  Yet  sometimes,  by 
drawing  comparisons  from  immediate  surround- 
ings and  introducing  details  to  vivify  and  make 

150 


STORY-TELLING 

concrete,  one  may  often  arouse  an  interest  in 
things  that  at  first  appear  remote  and  unrelated.  . 
In  other  words,  whatever  is  said  must  be  trans- 
lated into  the  experience  of  the  child  in  order  to 
have  meaning;  and  the  story-teller  must  not 
reckon  with  the  impression  in  his  own  mind,  but 
in  that  of  the  child. 

A  small  repertoire  of  stories  thoroughly  learned, 
not  by  mere  memorizing  (except  in  the  case  of 
certain  folk- tales  and  old-time  favorites  that 
lose  if  not  given  in  the  words  of  the  original), 
but  known  to  the  narrator  as  a  series  of  incidents 
clearly  held  in  mind,  will  be  found  better  than 
a  larger  number,  the  form  of  which  is  varied  at 
each  telling.  For  the  inexperienced  teller,  the 
choice  of  material  that  has  already  been  put  in 
story-form  is  for  obvious  reasons  advisable. 

'  For  the  other  side  of  story-telling,  where  the 
children  are  the  tellers,  few  directions  are  needed, 
and  these  chiefly  negative.  Teachers  who  make 
the  best  use  of  story-telling  by  children  agree 
that  they  must  not  be  stopped  in  their  narration 
for  correction  in  grammar,  pronunciation,  or 
any  mistake  in  the  statement.  Such  correction 
stops  the  flow  of  ideas,  and  makes  it  impossible 
to  keep  the  denouement  clearly  in  view.  They 
recognize,  also,  that  to  retell  is  not  simply  to  give 

151 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

a  story  in  the  language  of  the  original  (for  this 
is  merely  exercise  of  memory),  but  to  re-create 
it,  as  the  child  himself  sees  it.  He  will,  therefore, 
surely  leave  out  some  points  and  add  others  in 
order  to  emphasize  the  features  that  have  most 
appealed  to  him.  But  this  matter  of  reproduc- 
tion trenches  upon  dramatic  action,  and  the 
laws  of  one  are  applicable  to  the  other. 

With  whatever  curtailment  and  limitation 
that  may  be  found  necessary,  story-telling  in  the 
schoolroom  has  come  to  stay.  By  relieving  the 
monotony  of  routine,  by  making  school  life  a 
pleasure,  it  is,  whatever  may  be  its  cost  in  time, 
trouble  and  money,  abundantly  worth  while. 


IX 


MOVING  PICTURES 

It  is  a  long  step  from  the  Muybridge  photo- 
graphs of  1878  and  Edison's  first  little  nickel- 
in-the-slot  machine  for  showing  photographs  in 
rapid  succession  to  the  cinematograph  of  19 14. 
It  is  scarcely  two  decades  since  the  sight  of  an 
express  train  in  full  motion  was  first  introduced 
as  the  finale  of  a  vaudeville  show.  The  history 
of  the  rise  of  the  moving  picture  in  these  few 
years  attests  the  universal  longing  for  the  dra- 
matic. 

So  phenomenal  has  been  the  development,  so 
miraculous  its  prosperity,  its  financial  strength 
and  resources,  and  its  growth  generally  into  a 
public  institution,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
keep  pace  with  it  statistically  or  post  one's  self 
as  to  its  increasing  range  of  subject. 

New  York  has  over  eight  hundred,  Chicago 
over  six  hundred  moving-picture  houses,  and 
other  cities  proportionally  large  numbers.  Ac- 
cording to  the  latest  available  reports,  there  are 
to-day  about  seventeen  thousand  moving-pic- 

153 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

ture  houses  in  this  country,  with  a  daily  attend- 
ance of  seven  million  people,  over  a  half-million 
of  whom  are  children.  In  view  of  such  facts,  it 
is  not  surprising  to  find  that  milHons  of  dollars 
are  represented  in  the  moving  picture  as  an  in- 
dustry. Its  interests  are  consolidated  in  a  trust 
with  a  capitalization  which  exceeds  that  of  the 
Standard  Oil  Company,  while  there  are  "inde- 
pendents" which,  taken  together,  are  scarcely 
less  powerful.  In  foreign  countries,  well-known 
authors  and  artists  are  writing  and  acting  for 
the  moving-picture  drama.  The  names  of  Jules 
Lemaitre,  of  the  Academie  Fran^aise;  Mounet- 
Sully,  of  the  Theatre  Fran$:ais;  Hervieu  and  Ed- 
mond  Rostand,  in  France,  and  George  Sims,  in 
England,  show  what  talent  is  enlisted.  Even 
Bernhardt  and  Re  jane  have  acted  before  the 
moving-picture  camera. 

Many  of  the  pictures  are  regular  scenes  acted 
in  the  open,  made  oftentimes  at  fabulous  cost 
and  even  with  danger  and  fataHty  to  the  posers. 
Others  are  ''fake"  pictures,  put  together  in 
startHng  and  incongruous  ways,  so  that  by  their 
rapid  succession  absurd  and  impossible  happen- 
ings are  pictured  as  though  they  had  actually 
been  photographed.  Most  of  the  travel  scenes 
are  genuine  —  real  scenes  like  those  of  Lieuten- 

154 


MOVING  PICTURES 

ant  Shackleton  in  the  Antarctic,  or  of  General 
Villa  at  Torreon;  scenes  of  accidents  and  fires, 
on  the  other  hand,  are  merely  staged.  For  the 
latter  numerous  rehearsals  are  required;  and 
many  firms  have  their  own  studios  for  the  pur- 
pose, some  on  an  extensive  scale.  One  such 
firm  in  Chicago  occupies  an  entire  block  and 
has  a  menagerie  attached;  while  Selig's  estab- 
lishment in  Paris  requires  no  less  than  three 
blocks  for  its  plant.  They  have  also  good-sized 
stages  provided  underneath  with  tanks  of  water 
for  aquatic  scenes,  and  laboratories  are  attached 
with  large  forces  of  women -workers.  Besides 
occasional  star  actors,  a  large  corps  of  permanent 
ones,  including  many  whose  names  upon  the 
regular  stage  are  more  or  less  well  known,  are 
constantly  employed. 

No  pains  or  expense  is  spared  in  obtaining 
suitable  and  novel  settings.  The  hiring  of  a  small 
railroad  and  equipment  for  a  day  is  but  an  item. 
Not  only  are  excursions  made  into  the  country 
when  mountain  or  meadow  scenery  is  required, 
but  long  journeys  through  Europe  and  even 
around  the  world.  According  to  a  recent  account 
in  an  English  periodical,  an  expedition  for  hunt- 
ing a  man-eating  lion  was  organized,  that  a  well- 
known  animal  photographer  might  get  snap- 

155 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

shots  for  a  cinematograph.  The  enterprise  in- 
volved both  skill  and  danger.  The  mounted 
hunters,  the  natives'  attack  with  spears  as  the 
animal  charged  from  the  bush,  and  finally  the 
death  were  all  pictured;  sometimes,  without  such 
expeditions,  hunting  -  scenes  are  produced.  A 
Chicago  manufacturer  of  films  is  said  to  have 
arranged  a  spurious  hunt  in  which,  however,  a 
real  lion  was  slaughtered.  Several  films  have 
cost  $100,000  or  over  to  produce;  and  Homer's 
Odyssey  has  been  completed  by  an  ItaHan  firm, 
after  two  years  of  preparation,  at  an  expenditure 
of  no  less  than  $200,000. 

On  the  technical  and  artistic  sides,  moving  pic- 
tures are  constantly  being  perfected.  Notable 
progress  has  been  made  in  lessening  "flicker," 
"raining,"  and  the  noise  of  the  necessary  machin- 
ery; and  while  pictures  have  till  lately  been 
monochromatic  or  dichromatic,  it  is  now  possible 
to  project  them  upon  the  screen  in  natural  colors. 

As  regards  the  moral  quality  of  the  scenes 
given,  there  has  been  a  constantly  increasing 
gain;  and  while  it  is  undeniably  true  that  ques- 
tionable plays  are  sometimes  reproduced,  for 
some  years  the  pictures  have  also  been  of  high 
educational  value.  Trips  to  the  Zoo  are  repre- 
sented, and,  in  England,  the  stages  of  organic 

156 


MOVING  PICTURES 

life,  from  micro-organism  to  animal,  while  in 
Sweden  a  moving  -  picture  theater  to  present 
historical  scenes  has  been  endowed.  Besides 
pictures  of  methods  of  transportation,  indus- 
tries, growth  of  plants,  behavior  of  animals, 
history,  etc.,  managers  are  producing  those  of 
literary  character.  Famous  poems  of  Browning, 
Tennyson,  and  Longfellow  have  been  illustrated 
and  dramatized.  Novels  of  Tolstoy,  George 
Eliot,  de  Maupassant,  and  Victor  Hugo,  classic 
fairy  tales  and  Bible  stories  have  all  been  thrown 
upon  the  screen,  and  given  in  condensed  but 
attractive  form.  Plays  of  Shakespeare  (for  ex- 
ample, Romeo  and  Juliet)  and  other  classics,  as 
well  as  time-worn  melodramas,  have  been  re- 
modeled and  condensed,  that  the  story  might  be 
made  to  cover  a  few  minutes  instead  of  several 
hours.  Recently,  instead  of  abbreviated  ver- 
sions of  well-known  dramas,  full  plays  have  been 
prepared;  and  Mme.  Sans-Gene,  acted  by  Re  jane 
and  the  Parisian  company,  and  Bernhardt's 
Camille  now  constitute  one  reel,  and  are  given 
as  a  single  entertainment. 

Some  of  the  theaters  which  exemplify  the 
better  use  of  moving  pictures  show  scenes  of 
general  social  and  industrial  interest;  as,  for 
example,    different    occupations    in    the    trade 

157 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

school  for  girls,  scenes  illustrating  the  work  of 
the  District  Nursing  Association,  of  social  settle- 
ments, of  the  Child-Labor  movement,  of  work  in 
school  gardens,  and  even  daily  news  and  current 
events.  Building  and  mechanical  operations 
are  pictured  by  means  of  slow  time-exposure; 
and  the  construction  of  a  skyscraper  and  other 
processes,  whose  actual  carrying-out  is  a  matter 
of  several  months,  are  reproduced  in  the  course 
of  a  few  minutes. 

To  show  how  they  have  become  a  great  factor 
for  good  as  recreation  for  more  or  less  isolated 
peoples,  they  are  furnished  now  to  the  Esqui- 
maux; and  lepers,  exiled  on  the  island  of  Molo- 
kai,  enjoy  them.  In  Russia  they  enliven  the  dull 
life  of  the  peasants,  and  in  Africa  instruct  the 
native  negro.  Some  of  the  more  elaborate  of  the 
ocean  steamers  are  equipped  with  kinetoscopes, 
and  travelers  may  study  en  route  the  lands  they 
are  to  visit. 

Of  late  the  motion  picture  has  made  its  way 
into  legitimate  drama,  where  it  is  used  at  times 
in  place  of  scenery;  and  also,  as  in  Wagner's 
G otter ddmmerung,  to  replace  dangerous  feats  of 
performers. 

On  educational  and  scientific  sides,  its  appli- 
cations are  numerous,  and  some  of  the  higher 

158 


MOVING  PICTURES 

institutions  for  learning  now  have  their  own  films 
and  apparatus.  Even  in  the  lower  schools  there 
are  circuits  sometimes  of  twenty  or  more  that 
have  the  use  of  machine,  films,  and  operator 
twice  a  month.  For  lectures  and  travelogues  it 
is  very  much  in  vogue.  A  few  years  ago  the  well- 
known  teacher.  Dr.  Otto  Driessen,  of  Berlin, 
made  use  of  the  cinematograph  in  an  effective 
manner  for  a  lecture  delivered  at  a  congress 
at  Brussels.  Recognizing  that  there  was  much 
on  the  program  about  school  work  in  Germany 
that  was  dead  matter,  he  hit  upon  a  plan  for 
showing  the  foreign  delegates  what  education 
in  Charlottenburg  was  like  in  all  its  stages.  He 
combined  the  graphophone  and  the  cinemato- 
graph, so  that  his  audience  saw  and  heard  at 
the  same  time.  Later  in  Berlin  under  the  aus- 
pices of  a  scientific  society,  before  an  audience 
of  scientists,  he  demonstrated  how  thirteen 
branches  of  science  might  be  effectively  taught 
by  aid  of  the  cinematograph.  He  showed,  among 
other  things,  how  embryology  might  be  dem- 
onstrated, picturing  the  progressive  development 
from  the  germ  in  the  egg  to  the  fully  developed 
chick.  He  gave  the  processes  in  the  cotton 
industry  of  the  United  States,  from  the  planting 
of  the  seed  to  the  manufactured  product;  the 

159 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

details  of  the  "sleeping  sickness,"  the  opening 
of  the  "Victoria  Regia/'  the  ebb  and  flow  of 
the  tide,  the  construction  of  earthworks,  typical 
symptoms  that  attack  earth-workers  (now  be- 
come a  practical  problem  for  insurance  com- 
panies), the  explosion  of  submarine  mines,  and 
the  different  positions  of  Napoleon  at  the  battle 
of  Austerlitz.  He  so  convincingly  demonstrated 
the  usefulness  of  the  cinematograph  as  an  edu- 
cational tool  that  comic  papers  in  reporting  the 
lecture  said  that  "it  would  be  a  good  thing  if 
school  were  done  away  with,  and  the  theater  put 
in  its  place." 

Moving  pictures  are  used  in  demonstrating 
to  hospital  students  the  operating  methods  of 
surgeon  specialists,  and  in  picturing  speed  trials, 
gunnery  practice  and  maneuvers  in  the  Brook- 
lyn Navy  Yard.  The  value  of  having  pictorial 
records  of  great  men  at  their  tasks  can  hardly 
br  overestimated.  Important  engineering  feats 
and  structural  work,  in  each  step  of  their  ac- 
complishment, the  art  of  famous  actors  whose 
genius  would  survive  otherwise  only  in  tradition, 
may  now  be  preserved  in  all  their  vividness. 

A  French  photographer  has  lately  completed 
an  apparatus  for  taking  pictures  of  life  on  the 
ocean-bed;  and,  combined  with  the  X-ray  and 

1 60 


MOVING  PICTURES 

the  micro-photograph,  the  moving-picture  cam- 
era has  been  used  to  show  the  functioning  of  the 
heart  and  other  organs  and  various  processes 
of  the  human  body  and  its  action  in  diseases  of 
the  nervous  system.  According  to  report,  phono- 
graph and  cinematograph  records  of  the  social 
Hfe  of  France  are  to  be  perpetuated  in  a  Museum 
of  Speech  and  Gesture  in  Paris,  by  illustrations 
taken  not  only  from  the  various  provinces  but 
from  all  grades  of  society.  In  this  way  the  dif- 
ferences in  accent,  dress,  manners,  ceremonies, 
etc.,  will  be  preserved,  as  will  also  the  manner 
of  presenting  classic  dramas  and  musical  works 
by  contemporaneous  companies,  that  future  his- 
torians may  have  accurate  data  of  the  period  and 
of  the  transformation  of  the  race. 

Recently  the  standardizing  of  modern  dances 
has  been  facilitated  by  film  representations  show- 
ing correct  positions  and  steps. 

The  moving  picture  has  been  enlisted  in  the 
cause  of  hygiene  and  sanitation:  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  American  Civic  Association,  a  rep- 
resentation of  the  ''filthy  fly"  and  its  part  in 
spreading  disease  has  been  given,  and  a  scientific 
lesson  thus  impressed  upon  many  persons  who 
would  not  have  been  affected  by  mere  written 
accounts.    Improved  methods  of  farming  have 

i6i 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

been  pictured.  According  to  the  Journal  of  the 
American  Medical  Association  (August  13,  19 10), 
a  playlet  setting  forth  the  harm  done  by  impure 
milk  is  to  be  cinema tographed,  and  the  unhy- 
gienic methods  on  the  old-fashioned  farm  forci- 
bly shown.  In  1913  motion  pictures  on  tuber- 
culosis were  given  in  parks. 

For  some  years  social  settlements  have  made 
use  of  moving  pictures  both  for  purposes  of  en- 
tertainment and  for  education;  and  in  social 
centers  they  are  now  making  their  appearance. 
Playgrounds  are  adding  them  to  their  list  of 
attractions.  In  the  Hiram  House  Playground  in 
Cleveland,  already  picture  shows  are  given  on 
two  evenings  of  the  week.  Some  years  ago  con- 
siderable interest  and  newspaper  discussion  were 
aroused  by  a  proposal  to  operate  moving  pic- 
tures on  Sunday  evenings  in  a  Congregational 
church  in  New  Britain,  Connecticut,  a  city  with 
fifteen  thousand  wage-earners,  many  of  them 
of  foreign  birth.  A  series  of  slides  was  prepared 
for  the  purpose;  but  after  due  consideration  by 
the  Standing  Committee,  it  was  decided  not  to 
carry  out  the  plan.  Churches  elsewhere,  however, 
are  beginning  to  utilize  the  cinematograph; 
about  one  in  twenty  in  New  York  now  has  one; 
and  religious  and  quasi-religious  societies  are 

162 


MOVING  PICTURES 

finding  it  a  serviceable  adjunct  of  religious 
teaching.  In  rough  mining-camps  and  the  like, 
the  moving  picture  may  be  a  very  forcible  means 
of  moral  and  religious  appeal,  reaching  a  class 
of  men  whom  it  is  difficult  to  approach  or  interest 
by  ordinary  methods.  As  a  part,  also,  of  mis- 
sionary propaganda,  moving  pictures  have  been 
used  to  show  conditions  in  distant  lands  among 
poor  and  superstitious  peoples  before  and  after 
the  advent  of  missionaries ;  and  a  stronger  appeal 
is  thus  made  to  sympathy  than  would  be  pos- 
sible by  any  printed  or  even  oral  description. 

In  fact,  the  exploiting  of  the  cinematograph 
has  only  just  begun,  although  managers  who 
started  with  one  little  show  have  already  become 
multi-millionaires  at  the  head  of  a  whole  chain, 
and  regular  theaters  and  even  opera  houses  have 
been  compelled  either  to  close  their  doors  or 
turn  themselves  into  picture  shows.  Those  in- 
terested may  well  say  that  all  is  before  them; 
and  it  is  a  fact  worthy  of  notice  that,  since  the 
uplift  of  the  moving-picture  show  from  the  vapid, 
if  not  criminal,  scenes  it  first  presented,  to  the 
educational  plane,  its  patronage  has  steadily 
increased. 

If  we  consider  the  factors  which  make  for  the 
popularity  of  this  form  of  entertainment,  which 

163 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN   EDUCATION 

is  supplanting  vaudeville  and  melodrama  and 
has  now  become  a  most  serious  competitor  of  the 
legitimate  drama,  we  note,  in  the  first  place, 
that  the  price  is  not  prohibitive  for  the  poorest 
day  laborers.  Whole  families  for  a  moderate 
sum  can  go  often;  and  as  a  " family ''  recreation 
place,  the  theater  takes  on  respectability.  The 
character  of  the  show  itself,  too,  is  attractive 
in  that  it  is  so  realistic.  Everything  is  presented 
as  concretely  as  possible  and  reduced  to  merest 
essentials  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the 
times  which  makes  for  concentration.  The  prin- 
ciple of  motion,  also,  gives  an  immense  advan- 
tage over  the  ordinary  stereopticon  pictures, 
regardless  of  the  degree  of  perfection  the  latter 
has  attained,  —  a  psychological  principle  of 
which  advertisers  have  not  been  slow  to  take 
advantage;  since,  as  everybody  knows,  moving 
signs,  figures,  or  apparatus,  wherever  exhibited, 
invariably  attract  a  crowd.  The  very  rapidity 
of  movement  in  the  moving  picture,  so  much 
more  rapid  than  in  real  life,  creates  a  feeling  of 
excitement  and  expectancy.  Not  infrequently 
one  thrilling  episode  follows  another  without 
pause,  forcing  spectators  to  breathless  attention 
from  the  beginning  of  a  number  to  the  end. 
Then  there  is  a  certain  amount  of  mental  activity 

164 


MOVING  PICTURES 

involved,  and,  in  the  absence  of  words,  the  need 
of  filling  gaps  and  recognizing  the  thought  ex- 
pressed by  gesture.  The  personal  interpreta- 
tion gives  intellectual  zest;  and  there  is  mental 
stimulation  without  the  fatigue  of  thinking  in- 
volved in  the  modern  problem-play.  The  feel- 
ing of  companionship,  even  the  luxury  of  the 
upholstered  chairs,  are  things  that  count.  Be- 
sides all  this,  it  keeps  pace  with  the  times,  and 
satisfies  curiosity  by  picturing  the  doings  of 
great  people,  bringing  the  humble  into  touch 
with  the  happenings  in  the  world  about  them  in 
which  otherwise  they  have  no  part.  Finally,  for 
people  who  cannot  afford  the  regular  theater, 
it  brings  an  element  of  romance  into  colorless 
lives,  and  furnishes  excitement  which  young 
people  crave,  feeding  the  imagination,  and  re- 
leasing from  the  monotony  of  everyday  affairs. 
People  cannot  work  well,  year  in  and  year  out, 
if  they  have  no  relaxation  or  joy  of  living.  In 
short,  the  moving  picture,  by  its  appeal  to  cer- 
tain old  and  fundamental  psychological  princi- 
ples, adapts  itself,  as  Mr.  John  Collier  has  said, 
"to  the  passions  and  preferences  of  the  great 
amusement-seeking  public." 

But  with  all  its  attainments  and  its  possibili- 
ties, many  severe  criticisms  have  been  made, 

165 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN   EDUCATION 

and  serious  charges  brought  against  the  present 
condition  of  the  moving-picture  show.  These 
objections  fall  into  three  classes:  first,  those  that 
are  common  to  all  public  theater  performances; 
second,  those  supposed  to  be  innate  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  show  itself;  and  third,  those  that  are 
capable  of  being  removed.  The  first  may  be 
passed  over  as  belonging  to  the  general  discus- 
sion of  drama.  Under  the  second  come  the  fac- 
tors which  are  physically  injurious,  —  the  eye- 
strain due  to  the  constant  flicker  (greater  when 
worn  films  are  used),  the  darkness,  and  the  dan- 
ger from  fire,  owing  to  the  inflammable  character 
of  the  film.  The  last  has  been  much  lessened 
by  the  use  of  a  slow-burning  film,  and  the  in- 
vention of  a  noncombustible  film  is  daily  ex- 
pected. The  danger  of  the  darkness  has  been 
met,  in  some  degree,  by  a  law  which  enforces 
the  turning-on  of  lights  at  frequent  intervals; 
and  it  has  been  recently  shown  that  the  darkness 
itself  is  not  needful,  and  pictures  may  be  satis- 
factorily seen  in  dim  light,  or  even  in  a  flood  of 
light  with  proper  appliances  for  keeping  it  from 
falling  directly  upon  the  curtain.  Under  the 
third  class  of  objections  are  the  unsafe  and  ill- 
adapted  buildings.  Many  used  by  the  travehng 
show  are  fire-traps,  and  most  of  them  have  poor 

1 66 


MOVING  PICTURES 

ventilation.  Most  serious  of  all  is  the  moral  dan- 
ger involved  in  the  darkened  auditorium  and 
adjoining  rooms,  which  are  often  saloons,  and 
in  the  fact  that  so  many  children  and  early 
adolescents  go  to  these  shows  unaccompanied 
by  adults.  Insulting  advances  have  been  made 
to  women  and  young  girls,  and  so  serious  is  this 
evil  that  protective  societies,  like  the  Society 
for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children,  have 
been  obliged  to  interfere  and  even  prosecute 
offenders.  Structural  changes  are  rapidly  being 
made.  Show  places  are  not  so  dangerous  in  New 
York,  but  conditions  vary  in  different  States. 
The  increasing  number  of  reports  that  children 
were  incited  by  moving  pictures  to  commit 
crimes  has  aroused  social  workers,  city  officials, 
and  educators  to  investigate  them. 

The  Juvenile  Protective  Association  of  Chi- 
cago, an  organization  backed  by  great  wealth  and 
influence,  made  two  investigations  of  local  five- 
and  ten-cent  theaters  covering  the  period  from 
1909  to  191 1.  As  a  result  of  the  first,  numerous 
violations  of  the  law  and  a  demoralized  condi- 
tion of  affairs  was  reported.  Theaters  were  found 
to  be  in  bad  locations  near  saloons,  theater  room- 
ing-houses, or  five-cent  theater  hotels.  Girls  were 
enticed  inside  by  the  promise  of  tickets  in  return 

167 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

for  work,  or  on  some  other  pretext.  Children, 
attracted  by  lurid  advertisements  and  sensa- 
tional posters,  crowded  the  entrances  and  were 
sometimes  spoken  to  by  boys  or  men  and  invited 
to  the  show;  or  they  begged  and  pilfered  to  ob- 
tain admission.  Offers  were  made  of  reduced- 
rate  tickets  —  three  for  ten  cents  or  two  for 
five  —  to  tempt  the  crowd.  The  conduct  and 
speech  of  ''barkers"  were  in  some  cases  found  to 
be  objectionable,  as  was  also  the  behavior  of 
ushers  in  one  or  two  instances.  The  condition 
of  the  buildings  was  bad,  and  the  pictures  thrown 
upon  the  screen  were  in  many  cases  demoraliz- 
ing; not  only  crime  of  all  sorts  was  depicted,  but 
scenes  of  brutality  and  revenge,  though,  on  the 
other  hand,  many  were  highly  educational.  Of 
the  latter,  some  dealt  with  historical  subjects, 
scenery  in  foreign  countries,  dramatized  works, 
matters  injurious  to  health,  industries,  and  occu- 
pations. A  large  number  of  melodramas  of  lurid 
type  were  given,  but  also,  many  scenes  filled 
with  homely  sentiment.  As  is  true  generally,  the 
most  popular  were  the  humorous  pictures,  some 
of  them  silly,  yet,  on  the  whole,  harmless;  such 
as  ''How  Rastus  got  the  Turkey";  the  "Ani- 
mated Arm  Chair";  "Bridget  and  the  Eggs." 
After  the  first  investigation  there  was  a  notice- 

i68 


MOVING  PICTURES 

able  improvement.  As  a  result,  a  censorship  was 
instituted,  objectionable  films  were  removed, 
some  of  the  places  closed,  and  proposals  for  an 
improved  law  recommended.  Attention  was 
called  to  cases  of  revoked  licenses  wherein  busi- 
ness was  still  carried  on  by  the  owner  or  a  mem- 
ber of  his  family,  though  ostensibly  transferred 
to  other  hands,  and  it  was  urged  that  the  license 
should  be  for  the  place,  rather  than  for  the  pro- 
prietor. The  need  of  censorship  for  posters  and 
advertisements  was  also  pointed  out. 

Previous  to  these  investigations,  this  same 
association,  the  Juvenile  Protective  Society,  had 
introduced  an  ordinance  looking  to  the  better 
ventilation  of  theaters  in  Chicago  by  having 
buildings  so  constructed  that  the  air  could  be 
changed  a  number  of  times  in  proportion  to  the 
seating  capacity  in  each. 

Within  the  past  few  years,  by  the  establish- 
ment of  a  national  board  of  censorship,  a  reform 
has  been  effected  favorable  to  both  managers 
and  public.  For  years  nickelodeons  had  been 
more  or  less  unregulated  by  law;  and  the  in- 
crease of  abuses  in  New  York,  culminating  in  the 
exposure  of  graft  in  connection  with  the  License 
Bureau,  created  great  municipal  opposition  to 
the  moving-picture  theaters.    When  the  situa- 

169 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

tion  reached  a  crisis,  all  the  licenses  were  revoked, 
and  the  best-regulated  of  these  houses  suffered 
with  the  rest.  Exhibitors  themselves  naturally 
desired  a  surer  basis  for  their  business.  They 
appealed  accordingly  to  the  People's  Institute 
for  a  solution  of  their  difficulty.  By  cooperation 
with  various  other  civic  institutions,  they  ob- 
tained a  board  of  censorship.  While  this  is  with- 
out legal  status,  it  has  acknowledged  influence 
and  censors  ninety-eight  per  cent  of  all  the  mov- 
ing-picture films  of  the  country.  It  not  only 
censors  the  films  of  the  whole  entertainment, 
including  songs,  vaudeville  interludes,  etc.,  but 
sees  to  the  improvement  of  the  structural  and 
sanitary  conditions  of  the  theater  buildings. 
It  aims,  too,  to  cooperate  with  similar  organi- 
zations in  other  cities,  supplying  them  with  in- 
formation. All  the  principal  film  manufacturers 
of  the  United  States  have  entered  into  agreement 
with  this  board  of  censorship,  so  that  its  work 
is  now  national.  It  is  true,  there  are  films  called 
*' special  releases"  that  do  not  come  under  its 
authority.  These  are  placed  upon  the  market 
by  syndicates  or  private  individuals,  and  include, 
besides  those  of  well-known  lecturers,  some  that 
are  secretly  produced  and  circulated  in  violation 
of  the  criminal  statutes  of  the  different  States. 

170 


MOVING  PICTURES 

While  the  board  excludes  every  picture  of 
distinctly  immoral  tendency,  it  is  deemed  best 
not  to  be  too  rigid,  but  to  proceed  slowly,  secur- 
ing the  cooperation  of  manufacturers  rather  than 
antagonizing  them.  Moreover,  motion  pictures 
are  a  form  of  dramatic  art,  and,  as  such,  deal  with 
real  life  and  its  problems  of  crime.  Any  rule  which 
excluded  all  crime  would  exclude  the  Shake- 
spearean drama.  But  they  do  condemn  sensa- 
tionalism and  representation  of  crime  which 
does  not  involve  a  moral  purpose,  and  their 
decisions  are  based  on  the  probable  general  effect 
upon  the  audience.  The  introduction  of  white- 
slave pictures  has  brought  difficult  problems. 
The  board  has  decided  to  allow  only  those  sub- 
jects dealing  with  the  social  evil,  which  ''arouse 
fear  in  the  minds  of  both  sexes,  which  stimulate 
efforts  to  rescue  the  prostitute,  and  which  indi- 
cate sensible  and  workable  methods  of  repres- 
sion." Scenes  of  prize-fighting,  burglary,  and 
kidnaping,  have  sometimes  been  allowed  to  re- 
main, while  murders,  suicides,  robberies,  and  bull- 
fights were  prohibited.  In  many  cases,  films  are 
saved  by  eliminating  a  portion,  sometimes  a  few 
yards  only,  of  objectionable  matter.  In  connec- 
tion with  "store  shows,"  which  are  run  by  men 
lacking  in  theater  training,  or  interest  in  uplift- 

171 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

ing  and  perfecting  moving-picture  drama,  the 
control  of  the  board  is  likely  to  be  of  especial 
benefit.  Not  only  stores  but  many  saloons,  es- 
pecially in  the  South,  have  been  temporarily 
turned  into  theaters  during  a  period  of  no- 
license,  while  their  proprietors  are  only  waiting 
for  the  opportunity  to  return  to  their  old  busi- 
ness. The  board  does  not  favor  state  censorship 
and  only  a  modified  local  censorship;  because  the 
effect  of  prohibiting  the  use  of  a  film  in  one 
city,  or  of  changing  a  single  one  of  its  many  copies, 
is  slight,  compared  with  that  of  changing  the 
original  film  at  the  output. 

The  testimony  of  the  Drama  Committee  of  the 
Twentieth  Century  Club  in  Boston  agrees  with 
that  of  the  investigators  in  Chicago  and  in  other 
cities.  It  indicates  that,  in  point  of  safety  so  far 
as  building  conditions  are  concerned,  and  in 
morality  as  regards  material  presented,  the  mov- 
ing-picture theater  is  in  general  far  ahead  of  the 
so-called  legitimate  theater  to-day.  Yet  it  seems 
to  be  bearing  the  brunt  of  all  the  adverse  criti- 
cism. It  must  not  be  overlooked  that  whenever 
moral  lessons  are  weakly  drawn  or  vice  is  made 
attractive,  the  opportunity  for  harm  is  greater, 
since  its  prices  make  it  accessible  to  so  great 
a  number  from  the  more  impressionable  and 

172 


MOVING  PICTURES 

uneducated  classes.  It  is  also  undeniably  true 
that  special  shows  of  undesirable  character  are 
sometimes  given  at  very  late  hours  at  night;  and 
that  notices  of  crimes  committed  by  boys  who 
are  habitual  attendants  of  moving-picture  shows 
are  more  or  less  frequent.  Boys  have  admitted 
in  court  that  the  crimes  were  suggested  by  bio- 
graph  pictures  which  they  had  put  in  practice; 
also  they  have  organized  street  bands  of  robbers, 
as  they  said,  "just  for  the  fun  of  the  thing." 
The  attempt  of  five  boys  in  Greenwich,  Connec- 
ticut, on  February  28,  1910,  to  wreck  a  passen- 
ger train  on  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and 
Hartford  road  was  attributed  to  the  same  cause. 
The  report  of  one  of  the  investigations  already 
mentioned  condemned  a  picture  play,  in  which 
a  brutal  father  who  strikes  his  wife  is  shot  by  his 
son,  who  is  wildly  applauded  by  the  audience;  for 
a  boy  who  had  seen  the  play  fatally  wounded 
his  father  who,  in  a  moment  of  irritation,  had 
raised  his  hand  against  the  mother.  According 
to  the  account,  the  boy  was  astonished  that  he 
was  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  hero.  Not  infre- 
quently, also,  very  young  children  are  upset 
nervously  by  the  character  of  the  material  pre- 
sented. One  small  boy  known  to  the  writer  was 
found  hiding  away  his  toys  at  night  from   fear 

173 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

of  burglars  whom  he  had  seen  some  time  before 
at  one  of  the  five-cent  shows.  But  against  the 
attendance  of  very  young  children  the  same  argu- 
ments apply  as  for  the  regular  theater,  and  with 
older  ones  there  is  too  great  readiness  to  lay 
much  to  the  moving-picture  theater  that  for- 
merly was  credited  to  the  influence  of  the  cheap 
novel.  It  is  well  to  remember  that  life  in  an  en- 
vironment of  unrelieved  dullness  is  not  without 
outbreaks  of  adolescents,  and  that  moral  delin- 
quency existed  long  before  the  days  of  moving 
pictures.  The  moving  picture  has  uplifted  pop- 
ular entertainment  and  will  do  so  increasingly. 
It  has  crowded  out  the  pernicious  penny  arcade. 
It  has  taken  patronage  from  objectionable  forms 
of  vaudeville  and  burlesque,  and  it  has  become 
a  powerful  rival  of  the  low  dance-hall  and  the 
saloon. 

What  will  be  the  psychological  effect  upon 
mental  imagery  of  so  much  visual  presentation, 
of  intense  and  long  -  continued  concentration 
upon  attention,  of  the  prolonged  tension  and 
excitement  upon  quiet  and  sustained  thinking, 
of  so  much  concrete  material  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  abstract  thinking,  remains  to  be  seen. 
But  nature  demands  for  perfect  development 
periods  of  rest  as  well  as  work  and  sleep.   The 

174 


MOVING  PICTURES 

well-to-do  have  their  restful  pleasures,  long  days 
in  woods  and  fields,  or  a  peaceful  hearth-fire  to 
dream  beside.  The  poorest  wage-earner  may  find 
this  passive  satisfaction  of  the  ever  -  present 
dramatic  instinct  in  the  scenic  interest  of  the 
moving-picture  theater,  of  which,  surrounded 
by  warmth  and  comfort  and  with  his  family,  he 
may  take  as  much  or  as  little  as  he  will.  The 
cheap  moving-picture  show,  properly  regulated, 
should  be  a  power  in  solving  the  problem  of  up- 
lifting the  masses;  all  the  greater  because  they 
pay  for  it  and  feel  the  pride  of  patronage. 


X 


MARIONETTE  OR   PUPPET  PLAY 

The  moving  picture  has  been  developed  largely 
in  the  interest  of  adult  audiences;  the  puppet 
or  marionette  play,  so  little  known,  alas,  in 
America,  is  especially  suited  to  children.  It  has 
had  here  no  native  development.  It  once  existed 
as  an  exotic  in  the  foreign  sections  of  our  great 
cities;  but  the  ordinary  little  traveling  Punch 
and  Judy  show,  so  familiar  across  the  ocean,  is 
here  scarcely  known. 

In  Munich  there  is  a  municipal  theater,  prob- 
ably the  only  one  in  the  world  built  for  children 
and  dedicated  solely  to  their  use,  the  actors  on 
whose  stage  are  wooden  dolls.  Here  we  have  the 
last  modem  refinement  of  a  dramatic  develop- 
ment that  has  played  a  great  part  in  all  nations, 
ancient  and  modern. 

Its  beginnings  are  lost  in  the  mists  of  antiq- 
uity. According  to  some  writers  it  had  its  birth 
in  old  Indian  fairy  tales;  but  the  accepted  view 
is  that  of  Charles  Magnin,  whose  Eistoire  des 
Marionettes^  written  more  than  fifty  years  ago, 

176 


MARIONETTE  OR  PUPPET  PLAY 

IS  followed  by  all  succeeding  writers.  He  thought 
they  were  derived  from  the  animated  statues  of 
the  ancients.  Such  statues  were  common  in 
Egypt  where,  in  the  celebration  of  the  Osiris 
festival,  women  bore  them  through  the  streets. 
The  prophetic  statue  of  Jupiter  Ammon  was  car- 
ried, according  to  Diodorus  Siculus,  in  a  golden 
car  on  the  shoulders  of  twenty-four  priests,  to 
whom  it  indicated  the  route  by  a  movement  of  the 
head.  The  famous  wooden  statue  of  Venus  at- 
tributed to  Daedalus  was  moved-  by  weights 
within  loaded  with  mercury.  Puppet  plays  were 
known  at  a  very  early  date  in  Greece.  Xenophon 
and  Aristotle  speak  of  them,  and  records  show 
that,  besides  those  in  the  homes  of  wealthy 
Athenians,  pubUc  performances  were  given. 
They  were  also  known  in  Rome,  though  we  have 
no  description  of  their  theater.  Roman  writers 
referred  to  them  in  similes  like  that  of  Horace, 
''Drawn  by  wire,  like  wooden  figures  another 
man  works." 

In  the  Orient,  puppet  play  and  an  allied  form 
called  shadow  play  are  so  curiously  intermingled 
in  descriptions  that  they  cannot  always  be  clearly 
separated.  It  would  appear,  however,  that 
shadow  play  originated  in  Java,  and  was  derived 
from  a  very  old  Malayan  cult.  There  is  an  inter- 

177 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

esting  theory,  that  shadow  play  is  reminiscent 
of  the  time  when  all  that  the  people  saw  of  the 
religious  ceremony  was  the  shadow  of  the  officiat- 
ing priest  upon  the  walls  of  the  sacred  tent  which 
hid  him  from  their  view.  Its  content  embraces 
the  oldest  myths  and  legends,  episodes  from  the 
Indian  epics,  —  the  Mahabharata  and  the  Rama- 
yana,  and  such  history  as  turns  on  the  deeds  of 
national  heroes.  From  Java  it  spread  north- 
ward. It  is  probably  from  China  that  it  first  be- 
came known  to  the  Western  world;  for  it  is  now 
everywhere  spoken  of  as  the  Chinese  shadow  play. 
It  seems  to  have  been  preferred  in  the  East  to 
the  puppet  play  (if  one  can  distinguish  which  is 
which),  whereas  the  puppet  play  was  more  in 
favor  in  Europe.  In  fact,  shadow  plays  were  not 
known  there  till  the  seventeenth  century.  Their 
vogue  seems  to  have  been  of  short  duration  and 
limited  to  a  few  countries. 

The  modus  operandi  of  the  shadow  play  is  as 
follows:  Colored  figures  made  of  thin  translucent 
leather  are  displayed  behind  a  tightly  stretched, 
illuminated  white  linen  screen,  and  controlled 
by  a  manager  who  sings  the  text,  moving  the 
figures  the  while  by  attached  wooden  rods,  and 
pressing  them  close  against  the  screen  so  that 
they  appear  to  be  on  the  side  nearest  the  specta- 

178 


MARIONETTE  OR  PUPPET  PLAY 

tors.  Puppets,  on  the  other  hand,  are  jointed 
wooden  dolls,  worked  by  hand  or  by  wires,  ap- 
pearing on  a  miniature  open  stage.  Sometimes 
they  are  elaborately  carved,  painted,  and  dressed 
to  the  life.  They  are  made  to  imitate  the  move- 
ments of  living  actors,  while  the  text  of  their 
play,  recited  from  behind  the  scenes,  seems  to 
come  from  the  figures  themselves.  Their  French 
name,  marionnettes  (of  uncertain  derivation),  is 
in  constant  use,  and  the  words  puppet  play  and 
marionette  play  are  interchangeable. 

It  is  said  that  in  China  the  puppet  play  was 
known  two  hundred  years  before  our  era,  while 
shadow  plays  are  recorded  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury A.D.  An  amusing  incident  is  given  in  an 
account  of  the  siege  of  a  Chinese  city  in  262 
B.C.,  when  the  besieged  emperor,  knowing  the  jeal- 
ousy of  the  wife  of  his  besieger,  caused  a  life- 
sized  female  puppet  to  dance  on  the  city  wall. 
The  ruse  succeeded;  and  the  jealous  wife,  lest 
he  should  possess  the  fair  dancer,  persuaded  her 
husband  to  withdraw  his  forces.  According  to  an- 
other story  an  early  emperor  and  his  consort  were 
attending  a  puppet  show,  and  the  puppet  made 
eyes  at  the  empress  so  naturally  that  the  king 
became  jealous. 

Both  traveling  and  resident  shows  are  now 

179 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

found  in  China.  The  Secretary  of  the  Legation  of 
the  Netherlands  at  Pekin  some  fifty  years  ago 
describes  the  two  kinds  of  figures  in  use :  wooden 
figures  moved  by  thread,  and  leather  ones  worked 
by  hand.  Performances  with  the  latter  are  known 
as  ^'sack  plays,"  because  the  peripatetic  player 
used  formerly  to  support  his  booth  upon  his 
shoulders  and  conceal  himself  in  a  sack.  Shadow 
play  is  on  a  still  higher  level  and  often  of  great 
charm.  The  following  description  is  taken  from 
the  work  of  Herr  Rehm,  who  has  written  a  most 
comprehensive  history  of  the  subject:  ^' A  mourn- 
ing son  gives  burnt  offerings  to  the  ruler  of  the 
kingdom  of  shadows,  and  begs  to  see  the  spirit 
of  his  dead  mother,  who  appears  to  him  and  gives 
him  comfort.  Here  a  twilight  scene  is  pictured, 
a  pagoda  in  the  background  reflected  in  a  lake. 
Wonderful  music  is  heard  and  a  transformation 
takes  place;  the  pagoda  vanishes,  and  gleaming 
rings  of  color  appear  out  of  which  the  mother 
materializes."  Besides  these  mystic  represen- 
tations, scenes  depicting  every  phase  of  Eastern 
life,  the  streets,  the  market-place,  the  shops,  etc., 
are  also  given. 

Turkish  shadow  and  puppet  plays  were  prob- 
ably introduced  from  China.  They  are  scarcely 
more  than  spectacles,  and  the  dialogue  is  extem- 

i8o 


MARIONETTE  OR  PUPPET  PLAY 

pore.  Several  thirteenth-century  Turkish  plays 
are  still  in  existence,  and  seventeen  original 
manuscripts  of  plays  which  the  Sultan  Saladin 
enjoyed  are  preserved  in  Spain  in  the  Library 
of  the  Escurial.  Karagoz  (*' Black  Eye"),  the 
clownish  character  that  has  his  counterpart  in 
all  the  Western  world,  appears  in  both  puppet 
and  shadow  plays.  He  is  represented  as  brutal 
and  lustful.  The  pieces  of  the  Turkish  theater 
have  never  yet  been  printed,  so  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  establish  the  laws  of  their  construction; 
but  Maindron  says:  "There  must  be  intrigue, 
and  the  play  must  be  obscene,  to  give  satisfaction 
to  a  Turkish  audience,  though  it  rises  at  times 
to  the  highest  solemnity";  and  Rehm  states  that 
there  are  pieces  free  from  unclean  wit  and  licen- 
tiousness. 

In  Siam,  shadow  play  is  an  individual  and 
highly  developed  art.  The  subjects  of  the  play, 
or  Nang,  are  taken  from  the  Ramayana,  and  the 
characters  are  those  also  pictured  upon  the 
temple  walls.  The  figures,  which  are  ingenious, 
differ  from  any  previously  described.  All  the 
episodes  are  pricked  out  on  an  ox-hide  which  is 
fastened  to  a  wooden  standard  and  moved  back 
and  forth  before  the  curtain,  so  that  the  light 
from  behind  brings  the  picture  into  relief;  some- 

i8i 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN   EDUCATION 

times  as  many  as  twenty  people  are  needed  to 
move  the  hide.  Besides  the  operators  there  are 
five  masks  and  two  reciters  or  interpreters,  to 
explain  the  pictures,  as  well  as  a  jester.  Perform- 
ances in  Siam,  as  in  Java,  are  not  public,  but 
are  given  for  special  festivals,  funerals,  etc.,  in 
private  houses  and  at  court.  In  content  and  por- 
trayal the  play  is  unrestricted  and  obscene. 

Shadow  and  marionette  plays  are  also  found 
in  the  provinces  of  Turkestan,  in  Burma,  Arabia, 
and  Persia,  and  differ  but  slightly  from  those 
described.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  objec- 
tionable as  we  think  them  in  content  and  action, 
they  are  said  to  have  improved  primitive  condi- 
tions; at  least  they  reflect  the  life  and  feeling  of 
the  people. 

For  the  Japanese,  puppet  play  is  not  only  a 
means  of  popular  entertainment,  but,  according 
to  Herr  Rehm,  of  great  artistic  as  well  as  spiritual 
significance,  and  one  may  seek  long  in  the  scenic 
art  of  all  peoples  for  anything  similar.  Its  age 
is  not  known,  but  it  flourished  in  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  in  1730  had  reached 
a  very  high  degree  of  excellence.  Quite  in  con- 
trast to  the  practice  in  other  countries,  the 
players  or  movers  appear  upon  the  stage  with 
the  figures,  either  in  domino  or  in  gayly  colored 

182 


MARIONETTE  OR  PUPPET  PLAY 

ceremonial  clothes.  So  large  and  heavy  are  the 
puppets,  and  so  complicated  their  mechanism, 
that  sometimes  it  takes  two  or  three  ''movers'' 
to  manipulate  a  single  one.  The  words  of  the 
text  are  recited  in  rhythm,  and  the  tempo  is 
altered  to  suit  the  action.  The  reciters  sit  with 
the  musicians  at  the  side  of  the  stage  on  a  rolling 
disk  or  turntable,  and  change  after  every  act. 
Some  of  the  reciters  achieve  great  reputation 
and  receive  large  remuneration.  What  with 
movers,  lamplighters,  musicians,  reciters,  and 
others,  the  force  employed  for  a  single  perform- 
ance sometimes  numbers  more  than  a  hundred. 

In  the  Western  world  puppet  play  found  great 
favor,  and  first  of  all  in  Italy.  The  celebrated 
Italian  physician  and  mathematician,  Girolamo 
Cardano,  wrote  enthusiastically  of  it  in  1550, 
telling  of  the  wonderful  perfection  with  which  it 
imitated  human  movements.  "An  entire  day," 
he  says,  "would  not  be  sufficient  in  which  to 
describe  those  puppets  that  play,  fight,  shoot, 
dance,  and  play  musical  instruments." 

The  puppet  play  of  Italy  is  closely  related  to 
the  Commedia  delV  Arte,  which  has  had  an  impor- 
tant part  in  the  history  of  the  Italian  stage, 
winning  scant  praise  from  higher  circles,  but 
appealing  strongly  to  the  popular  mind,  and 

183 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

proving  of  acknowledged  ethical  value  in  ridi- 
culing the  foolishness  and  errors  of  its  time.  Its 
chief  characteristic  was  the  improvised  dialogue, 
a  mere  outline  of  a  plot  being  the  only  permanent 
material.  The  original  comic  character,  Arlec- 
chino,  was  often  very  witty,  and  he  was  allowed 
a  freedom  of  speech  not  permitted  in  more  dig- 
nified drama.  He  filled  the  place  of  the  jester  at 
mediaeval  courts  and  of  the  cartoonist  to-day. 
With  the  lapse  of  time,  the  Commedia  delV  Arte 
gradually  introduced  more  system  into  its  per- 
formances, and  rose  to  a  higher  plane.  The  pup- 
pet play  underwent  a  very  similar  development, 
though,  in  its  less  pretentious  forms,  the  tradi- 
tion of  the  unwritten  text  was  still  preserved. 
Arlecchino's  successors  are  found,  in  a  series  of 
comic  characters,  in  the  puppet  play  of  different 
countries,  the  Italian  Pulcinella,  the  French 
Polichinelle  and  Pierrot,  the  German  Hanswurst, 
and  the  English  Punch  being  the  best  known. 
According  to  their  country  they  are  in  turn 
burlesque,  wanton,  cheat  or  drunkard.  Pul- 
cinella with  his  humps,  monstrous  nose,  and 
other  physical  peculiarities,  points  directly  back 
to  the  Maccus  of  the  Romans,  their  clown  or 
common  jester.  In  a  long  white  dress  and  pointed 
cap,  he  is  a  half  -  burlesque  and  wholly  jolly 

184 


MARIONETTE  OR  PUPPET  PLAY 

character,  whose  language  and  actions  are  not 
always  choice;  an  interloper,  and  something  of 
a  coward. 

Puppet  shows  have  been  more  generally  en- 
joyed in  Italy  than  in  any  other  European  coun- 
try, and  there  as  elsewhere  have  strongly  re- 
flected national  tastes.  A  special  feature  of  the 
Italian  puppet  theater  was  its  beautiful  dancing; 
its  ballets  and  operas  achieved  great  reputation. 
Little  street  shows  delighted  the  masses,  and 
more  pretentious  ones  were  frequently  given  in 
the  houses  of  the  nobility  and  middle  classes  as 
well  as  in  public  theaters  frequented  by  many 
distinguished  people.  Leone  Allacci,  librarian  of 
the  Vatican  under  Alexander  VII,  went  nightly 
to  performances.  Well-known  pieces,  among  them 
Machiavelli's  Mandragola,  were  often  given  as 
marionette  plays  in  the  artistic  and  literary  cir- 
cles of  Florence  and  Naples.  Many  of  the  pieces 
abounded  in  bombast,  sarcastic  wit,  and  hits  at 
social  and  political  personages,  since  the  wooden 
actors  were  allowed  a  liberty  of  speech  not  per- 
mitted to  live  ones;  but  when  they  ridiculed  too 
freely  affairs  of  Church  and  State,  they,  like  the 
regular  theaters,  were  suppressed. 

In  France,  puppet  play  had  its  origin  in  cer- 
tain religious  ceremonies,  the  most  celebrated 

■       i8S 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

of  which  were  the  Mitouries  at  Dieppe,  half- 
pagan  pantomimes  in  which  the  figures  were 
moved  by  threads.  They  were  driven  from  the 
churches  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century;  but  they  spread  into  the  country,  and 
were  given  in  the  doorways  of  convents  and 
churches.  Their  secular  use  dates  from  the  time 
of  Louis  XIV,  when  Jean  Brioche  set  up  his 
booth  for  puppets  on  the  Pont  Neuf ,  and  carried 
on  his  profession  of  extracting  teeth  between 
performances.  He  was  followed  by  a  long  suc- 
cession of  players  whose  theaters  enjoyed  pros- 
perity and  fame,  and  were  operated  by  descend- 
ants of  the  same  family  for  generations. 

French  puppet  play  has  had  a  varied  and  es- 
pecially rich  development.  Great  authors  have 
delighted  in  it.  Satire  and  witty  epigram  have 
abounded.  How  completely  it  has  mirrored  the 
events  of  the  times  is  shown  by  the  fact  that, 
during  the  French  Revolution,  the  puppet  hero 
was  daily  guillotined.  Like  Pulcinella  in  Italy, 
Polichinelle  had  many  variants.  One  of  these, 
the  Lyonnais  Guignol,  supplanted  Polichinelle  in 
Paris,  and  gave  his  name  to  the  show  now  known 
as  the  Guignol  Theater. 

George  Sand  gave  charming  puppet  plays  in 
her  home;  Henri  Signoret  produced  with  his 

1 86 


MARIONETTE  OR  PUPPET  PLAY 

puppets  celebrated  dramas  of  world  literature 
not  known  to  the  great  stage;  and  Le  Mercier  de 
Neville  aroused  for  it  the  interest  of  a  number 
of  artists,  including  Dore,  who  painted  some  of 
the  dolls.  But  the  golden  age  of  the  marionettes 
which  delighted  these  brilliant  geniuses  has 
passed;  of  all  the  ambulant  shows  for  children 
few  are  now  found. 

English  puppet  shows  were  never  so  highly 
prized  as  those  of  Latin  countries ;  but  when  under 
Puritan  rule  the  regular  theaters  were  closed, 
the  puppets  escaped  the  general  edict,  became 
the  vehicle  of  public  opinion,  and  reached  their 
highest  development. 

The  Spectator  (no.  xiv)  has  preserved  the 
memory  of  a  famous  puppet  theater  in  London, 
set  up  near  St.  Paul's,  in  the  following  letter  of 
remonstrance :  — 

Sir,  —  I  have  been,  for  twenty  years  under-sexton 
of  this  parish  of  St.  Paul's,  Covent  Garden,  and  have 
not  missed  tolling  in  to  prayers  six  times  in  all  those 
years;  which  office  I  have  performed  to  my  great  sat- 
isfaction, until  this  fortnight  last  past,  during  which 
time  I  find  my  congregation  taking  the  warning  of 
my  bell,  morning  and  evening,  to  go  to  a  puppet 
show  set  forth  by  one  Powell  under  the  Piazzas. 
By  this  means,  I  have  not  only  lost  my  two  custom- 
ers whom  I  used  to  place  for  six-pence  apiece  over 

io7 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

against  Mrs.  Rachael  Eyebright,  but  Mrs.  Rachel 
herself  is  gone  thither  also.  ...  I  desire  you  would 
lay  all  this  before  the  world,  that  I  may  not  be  made 
such  a  tool  for  the  future,  and  that  Punchinello  may 
choose  hours  less  canonical.  As  things  are  now,  Mr. 
Powell  has  a  full  congregation,  while  we  have  a  very 
thin  house;  which  if  you  can  remedy,  you  will  very 
much  oblige,  sir,  yours,  &c. 

Besides  the  theaters  in  London,  the  ambulant 
sort  flourished  in  the  little  towns;  and  Cruik- 
shank  and  Hogarth  have  left  us  pictures  that 
show  the  humor  of  street  scenes  of  which  they 
form  a  part. 

In  Belgium,  Austria,  and  Holland,  the  puppet 
theater  attained  great  popularity;  and  in  Bo- 
hemia it  is  the  only  form  of  dramatic  art  now 
given  in  the  native  tongue. 

It  is  in  Germany  that  the  art  of  puppet  play 
is  preserved  in  its  highest  form,  and  there  we  find 
the  only  recent  attempts  to  improve  it  on  the 
artistic  and  literary  side.  Its  early  development 
was  similar  to  that  in  other  countries,  except 
that  the  effects  were  more  gruesome  and  bizarre, 
and  the  humor  heavy.  Also  the  wooden  Kobold 
and  Tattermann,  worshiped  in  the  dark  ages  as 
household  gods,  became  puppets  worked  by 
wires.    In  the  seventeenth  century,  the  plays 

i88 


MARIONETTE  OR  PUPPET  PLAY 

were  very  popular,  taking  the  place  of  the  regu- 
lar drama  which  had  come  under  the  ban  of  the 
Church,  though  later  they,  too,  collided  with  au- 
thority when  they  meddled  with  politics.  The 
Germans,  always  adept  at  toy-making,  made  toy 
puppet  theaters.  Goethe  had  one  when  a  boy, 
and  ascribed  to  it  his  earliest  interest  in  drama. 
At  twenty  he  wrote  a  puppet  play,  afterwards 
given  at  the  court  of  Weimar  (his  Faust  was  in 
part  suggested  by  this  play  of  Dr.  Faustus) ;  and 
later  he  contributed  six  minor  plays  to  the  puppet 
stage.  Joseph  Haydn  also  wrote  for  the  puppet 
theaters,  contributing  five  little  operettas  which 
Prince  Esterhazy  caused  to  be  performed  at  his 
castle  in  Hungary.  His  Symphony  for  Children's 
Instruments  was  probably  an  overture  for  one 
of  these  marionette  pieces. 

The  veteran  puppet  player  to-day  is  "Papa 
Schmid,"  whose  theater  in  Munich  has  a  world- 
wide reputation.  For  more  than  half  a  century 
Papa  Schmid  has  aimed  to  meet  the  real  needs 
of  children,  and  has  had  his  reward  in  being  the 
best -beloved  man  in  Munich.  Children  have 
waited  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  him  as  he  came 
out  of  the  theater;  for,  for  them,  the  names  of 
"Schmid"  and  "Casparl,"  the  part  he  always 
plays,  are  synonymous.    At  the  outset  of  his 

189 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

career  as  puppet  showman,  Schmid  won  the 
friendly  interest  of  Count  von  Pocci,  who  wrote 
the  play  for  the  opening  performance,  and  con- 
tinued throughout  his  lifetime  to  write  for  the 
little  theater.  When  a  few  years  ago  there  was 
a  question  of  Papa  Schmid's  retiring  from  the 
profession  owing  to  the  constantly  recurring 
necessity  for  moving  his  show  from  one  site  to 
another,  the  city  magistrates,  urged  by  Dr. 
Kerschensteiner,  superintendent  of  schools,  voted 
unanimously  to  build  for  it  a  permanent  residence. 
Doubtless  most  of  these  magistrates  had  spent 
many  a  happy  hour  in  boyhood  watching  the 
antics  of  ''Casparl."  The  theater  was  built  on 
one  of  the  small  park-spaces  of  the  city  and 
leased  to  Papa  Schmid.  It  is  rich  in  scenery  and 
puppets,  having  nearly  a  thousand  of  the  latter, 
and  is  in  all  respects  a  true  home  of  art.  Besides 
the  pieces  of  Count  Pocci,  who  contributed  no 
less  than  fifty-three,  it  produces  the  works  of 
several  other  well-known  writers,  among  them 
those  of  the  dialect  poet,  Franz  von  Kobell. 

One  or  two  other  recent  attempts  to  produce 
puppet  plays  of  a  high  order  deserve  mention. 
The  Bavarian  Jubilee  Exhibition,  a  few  years  ago 
in  Nuremberg,  had  a  puppet  theater  which  was 
set  in  operation  by  a  group  of  men  of  note. 

190 


MARIONETTE  OR  PUPPET  PLAY 

Arthur  Schnizler,  Maeterlinck,  and  others  con- 
tributed pieces.  Even  the  stage  was  an  adapta- 
tion of  Reinhardt's  famous  revolving  stage.  But 
these  revivals  are  in  the  interest  of  art  and  lit- 
erature, while  Papa  Schmid's  theater  remains 
unique  in  its  effort  to  produce  plays  of  a  pure 
and  elevated  kind,  suited  to  child-nature. 

The  question  now  arises:  What  value  for  the 
modern  educator  has  an  art  which  has  apparently 
played  out  its  part?  Are  the  historical,  moral, 
literary,  and  artistic  values  which  it  has  had  in 
the  past  transferable  to  modern  conditions,  or 
have  they  now  been  transmuted  into  other  forms 
of  expression  ? 

Dr.  Georg  Jacob  points  out  that  the  develop- 
ment of  the  magic  lantern  and  the  stereopticon 
satisfies  the  masses,  and  popular  concerts  and 
comic  newspapers  gratify  the  desire  for  music 
and  humor.  He  still  believes,  however,  in  the 
usefulness  of  the  puppet  play,  possessing  as  it 
does  such  a  fruitful  element  of  caricature  in  the 
movability  of  its  figures;  and  it  is  not  impossi- 
ble that  a  gifted  artist  will  yet  bring  it  to  new 
honors. 

Any  one  who  has  watched  a  throng  of  small 
boys  and  girls  as  they  sit  in  the  tiny  roped-off 
square  before  a  little  chdtelet  in  Paris  on  the 

191 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

Champs-Elysees,  or  those  that  gather  in  Papa 
Schmid's  exquisite  little  theater  in  Munich,  or 
before  the  tiny  booths  at  fairs  and  exhibitions 
anywhere  in  Italy,  must  have  noticed  the  rap- 
turous delight  of  those  small  people.  The  tiny 
stage,  its  equipment,  accessories,  the  diminu- 
tive garments  and  belongings  of  the  puppets 
satisfy  the  childish  love  of  miniature  copies  of 
things  of  the  grown-up  world.  Their  animistic 
tendencies  make  it  easy  to  endow  the  wooden 
figures  with  human  qualities  and  bring  them  into 
close  rapport  with  their  own  world  of  fancy.  The 
voice  coming  from  some  unknown  region  adds 
the  mystery  which  children  dearly  love,  and 
before  the  magic  of  fairy  tales  their  eyes  grow 
wide  with  wonder.  The  stiff  movements  of  the 
puppets,  their  sudden  collapses  from  dignity,  are 
irresistibly  funny  to  the  little  people,  and  the 
element  of  buffoonery  is  doubly  comical  in  its 
mechanical  presentation.  For  grown  people,  too, 
the  mirth-provoking  capacity  of  puppets  is  per- 
haps the  greatest  factor  in  their  popularity,  for 
they  can  caricature  in  a  way  impossible  on  the 
regular  stage.  Professor  Wundt  maintains  that 
their  ministration  to  the  sense  of  the  comic  is 
tlieir  chief  function.  He  claims  that  puppet  play 
had  not  one  origin,  but  many;  that  it  arose  in 

192 


MARIONETTE  OR  PUPPET  PLAY 

different  localities  out  of  the  need  of  creating 
comic  figures. 

It  is  difficult  to  analyze  satisfactorily  its  appeal 
in  this  particular ;  but,  among  the  many  theories 
of  the  comic,  the  factor  which  seems  most  promi- 
nent in  puppet  play  is  the  feeling  of  self-superior- 
ity to  the  situation.  In  the  case  of  the  wooden 
manikins,  this  feeling  is  necessarily  greatly  in- 
tensified, thus  giving  rise  to  a  degree  of  fun  that 
would  be  impossible  were  the  same  thing  acted 
by  real  players.  The  element  of  the  unexpected, 
too,  which  contributes  to  the  comic,  is  far  oftener 
brought  into  play  by  the  unanticipated  evolu- 
tions of  the  puppets  in  their  occasional  contra- 
dictions of  the  law  of  gravity,  than  would  be 
possible  with  living  actors. 

The  question,  after  all,  of  the  right  of  survival, 
or  revival,  resolves  itself,  perhaps,  into  the  ques- 
tion of  the  value  of  puppet  play  for  entertain- 
ment pure  and  simple,  which  is  at  least  one  of  the 
great  primary  functions  of  all  true  drama.  The 
masses  of  the  people,  stunted  and  dulled  by  hard, 
monotonous  labor  in  crowded  cities,  must  have 
relaxation  and  amusement.  The  beneficial  effects 
of  laughter,  both  physical  and  emotional,  have 
been  always  recognized.  The  effect  of  a  hearty 
laugh  in  restoring  emotional  tone  and  balance 

193 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

has  come  to  be  recognized  as  a  distinct  therapeu- 
tic agency.  Some  sanatoriums,  that  of  Battle 
Creek,  for  example,  actually  have  "laughing 
exercises"  as  a  part  of  the  curative  regime. 
Laughter  is  of  greatest  importance,  perhaps,  in 
the  upper  grades  of  society,  where  convention- 
ality constantly  makes  for  the  repression  of 
natural,  spontaneous  expression  of  feeling.  Psy- 
chologists are  telling  us  to-day  that  laughter  is 
dying  out,  that  the  world  is  forgetting  how  to 
laugh. 

There  is  a  very  general  tendency  in  this  coun- 
try to  adapt  for  school  use  everything  that  is  of 
recognized  educational  value.  The  puppet  play, 
it  is  true,  could  be  brought  to  school.  While  we 
would  scarcely  advocate  its  introduction  as  mere 
entertainment,  doubtless  some  subjects  could  be 
vivified  and  made  more  interesting  by  means  of 
marionettes.  For  the  large  number  of  children 
who  never  get  beyond  the  grades,  the  deepen- 
ing of  the  impressions,  in  literature  and  history, 
would  be  of  special  value,  as  also  for  older  chil- 
dren the  training  in  writing  dialogues  and  de- 
claiming, and  the  practice  in  fashioning  puppets, 
costumes,  scenery,  and  properties,  and  in  acting 
as  operator  and  showman.  But  better  yet,  put 
little  puppet  theaters  into  settlement  and  play- 

194 


MARIONETTE  OR  PUPPET  PLAY 

ground,  into  boys'  club  and  social  center,  into 
the  small  park  or  recreation  place.  Let  us  have, 
too,  the  larger  sort  of  booth  or  chdtelet,  such  as 
may  be  found  for  the  season  in  fair  and  exhibi- 
tion grounds  abroad.  If  less  complete,  they  have 
at  least  the  advantage  in  warm  weather  of  being 
out  of  doors.  Give  fairy  tales  and  little  comedies, 
and  open  up  for  children  a  land  of  wonder  and 
delight.  Finally  create  a  marionette  theater  run 
on  high  and  artistic  principles,^  even  as  Papa 
Schmid's  has  been;  and  make  it  in  the  end  a 
civic  institution. 

1  In  19 13  a  national  marionette  society  was  started  in  New 
York.  . 


XI 


PAGEANTRY 

Any  account  of  present-day  methods  of  appeal 
to  the  dramatic  instinct  would  be  incomplete 
without  some  consideration  of  pageantry  in  its 
various  early  forms  and  its  recent  developments 
and  applications.  In  its  wider  meaning,  it  began 
thousands  of  years  ago.  There  was  glorious 
pageantry  in  the  religious  ceremonials  of  ancient 
Egypt  as  we  see  them  on  the  walls  of  Luxor  and 
Denderah.  The  Parthenon  frieze  has  fixed  for- 
ever the  splendid  procession  which  yearly  as- 
cended to  the  Acropolis.  Cleopatra  depended 
on  the  gorgeous  effect  when  she  glided  down  the 
river  Cydnus  in  her  barge  to  meet  the  Roman 
conqueror.  Modern  writers  call  all  these  ''pag- 
eants"; but  the  word  was  first  used  in  connection 
with  the  mediaeval  miracle  plays. 

When  driven  from  the  church,  the  miracle 
plays  were  transferred  first  to  the  churchyard 
and  then  to  the  city  gates;  later  still,  that  a 
larger  number  of  the  people  might  see  them,  the 
custom  arose  of  moving  them  from  place  to  place 

196 


PAGEANTRY 

called  "stations,"  in  different  parts  of  the  town. 
For  this,  movable  platforms,  called  "pageants," 
were  used  —  two-storied  theaters  on  wheels,  of 
which  the  lower  story  served  for  dressing-room, 
while  the  upper  was  the  stage  for  the  acting. 
The  word  "pageant,"  at  first  applied  to  the  scaf- 
fold, came  to  signify  the  scene  acted  upon  it. 
Later  it  was  variously  applied  to  different  parts 
of  a  procession;  to  erections,  floats,  etc.,  as  well 
as  to  impersonations  of  allegorical  or  grotesque 
characters  and  even  to  entire  elaborate  spectacles. 
Descriptions  which  have  been  preserved  show 
the  character  of  these  representations. 

In  coronations  the  element  of  pageantry  was 
strongly  manifest.  One  of  the  most  magnificent 
of  all  was  given  when  Charles  V  was  made  king 
of  Italy  and  Lombardy.  The  water  pageants  on 
the  Thames  on  various  occasions,  and  the  fes- 
tivals on  the  Arno  in  Florence,  have  furnished 
splendid  spectacles.  We  find  the  element  of 
pageantry  also  in  military,  civic,  and  state  pro- 
cessions. From  earliest  times  victorious  gen- 
erals have,  on  their  return  from  war,  passed 
through  the  capital  city  with  pomp  and  magnifi- 
cent ceremony.  The  "Triumphs"  of  Roman 
generals  were  famous,  wherein  were  displayed  the 
spoils  of  war,  and  conquered  kings  and  queens 

197 


DRAMATIC   INSTINCT  IN   EDUCATION 

were  made  to  walk  captive  in  their  train  in  order 
to  enhance  the  effect  of  victory.  In  funeral  pro- 
cessions pageantry  played  a  most  important 
part;  that  of  Queen  Eleanor  from  Hornby  to 
London,  which  covered  twelve  days,  is  historical. 
Those  of  great  naval  and  military  heroes  at  all 
times,  as  of  Nelson,  Wellington,  and  Grant,  have 
been  impressive  spectacles;  and  the  custom  of 
gorgeous  funeral  processions  in  honor  of  espe- 
cially distinguished  citizens  still  prevails. 

The  elaborate  court  masques  and  revels  of  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  grew  out 
of  the  processions  and  pageants  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  preserved  very  strongly  their  spec- 
tacular or  pageant  features.  They  were  written 
to  celebrate  great  occasions,  such  as  marriages 
of  royalty  and  nobility,  and  achieved  great  popu- 
larity, reaching  their  height  in  England  in  the 
time  of  James  I.  Royalty  not  only  patronized 
these  masques,  but  frequently  took  part  in  them. 
Queen  Henrietta  Maria  acted  in  Ben  Jonson's 
Clorinda  in  1630,  and  Queen  Anne  acted  in  one 
of  the  most  brilliant  ever  given,  that  in  honor 
of  the  Spanish  Ambassador's  visit  to  Hampton 
Court  in  1704,  when  Queen  Elizabeth's  dresses 
were  brought  from  the  Tower  for  the  occasion. 
Lists  of  expenses  have  been  preserved  which  give 

198 


PAGEANTRY 

an  idea  not  only  of  the  great  cost,  but  of  the 
sumptuousness  of  the  apparel  worn.  Various 
chroniclers  also  have  left  vivid  descriptions  of 
them.  Inigo  Jones,  Albrecht  Diirer,  and  other 
artists  helped  to  make  them  beautiful. 

Besides  these  spectacles  of  the  more  preten- 
tious sort,  a  kind  of  rude  and  rustic  pageantry  is 
discernible  in  many  old  observances  of  various 
lands,  such  as  Yule-tide  customs  and  the  social 
ceremonies  connected  with  Twelfth  Night  and 
Harvest  Home.  The  carnivals  for  Mardi  Gras 
in  the  Catholic  countries  of  Europe,  as  well  as 
in  our  own  New  Orleans,  are  manifestations  of 
the  same  tendency  to  enjoy  and  take  part  in 
dramatic  spectacles. 

But  we  do  not  have  to  turn  to  the  past  for 
splendid  displays;  there  are  numerous  survivals, 
though  the  parades  of  the  Renaissance  have  dis- 
appeared. In  almost  all  monarchical  countries, 
brilliant  exhibitions  of  the  kind  are  still  in  vogue. 
The  English  Parliament  is  opened  with  great 
circumstance,  and  the  arrival  in  provincial  cities 
of  the  Judges  of  Assize  are  civic  events  of  first  im- 
portance. The  Lord  Mayor's  show  in  London  is 
another  of  these  survivals;  and  the  bride  of  roy- 
alty enters  the  capital  to-day  like  the  princess 
of  a  fairy  tale.    Multitudes  throng  to  see  these 

199 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

shows  that  are  free  to  the  humblest  subject;  and 
the  means  that  were  used  to  gratify  people  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  to  impress  them  with  the 
greatness  of  monarchical  and  military  power, 
still  foster  loyalty,  or  at  least  insure  the  outward 
appearance  of  it. 

The  Catholic  Church,  with  all  its  processional 
adjuncts  and  impressive  symbolic  display,  its 
various  commemorative  and  initiatory  cere- 
monies, makes  extensive  use  of  pageantry,  and 
has  always  thus  addressed  itself  to  the  imagina- 
tion and  emotions  of  its  people. 

From  very  early  days  universities,  more  espe- 
cially on  the  Continent,  have  made  use  of  pag- 
eantry. On  anniversaries,  they  present  their 
entire  histories,  and  in  their  academic  proces- 
sions, in  costumes  and  ceremonies,  we  have  mod- 
ern examples  of  the  ancient  pageant.  The  same 
element  comes  out  strongly  in  the  dramatic 
rituals,  supported  by  tradition,  of  secret  societies 
and  brotherhoods. 

Lately  there  has  been  a  remarkable  outburst 
of  the  spirit  of  pageantry  that  has  given  it  new 
meaning.  Beginning  in  1905  with  that  of  Sher- 
borne, England,  celebrations  have  been  held  in 
most  of  the  larger  English  towns  and  cities, 
wherein  authors,  teachers,  artists,  clergy,  the 

200 


PAGEANTRY 

working-classes,  and,  in  some  cases,  professional 
actors,  have  all  united  in  reviving  local  history. 
Each  of  these  pageants  has  had  its  individual 
characteristic,  and  has  expressed  some  special 
principle.  In  the  Sherborne  pageant  the  feeling 
of  comradeship  was  stimulated.  The  making  of 
the  costumes  and  properties  required  research 
and  ingenuity ;  and  those  who  provided  the  music 
revived  old  motifs,  and  composed  new  ones.  They 
acted  out  eleven  centuries  of  the  town's  history, 
presented  in  as  many  episodes.  Representatives 
from  the  town's  namesake,  Sherborn,  Massa- 
chusetts, were  present  by  invitation,  and  ap- 
peared in  the  final  tableau  when  the  mother  and 
daughter  cities  were  personified. 

In  the  pageant  at  Winchester,  the  capital  of 
early  England,  where  Alfred  the  Great  had  his 
seat,  national  rather  than  local  development  was 
the  prominent  feature.  One  was  transported 
to  the  days  when  Birinus  drove  out  pagan  wor- 
ship, and  even  to  old  Roman  times.  The  career 
of  Alfred  the  Great  as  warrior  and  peacemaker 
was  pictured,  and  that  of  William  of  Wykeham, 
ecclesiastic  and  statesman,  founder  of  the  college 
and  rebuilder  of  the  cathedral. 

A  noticeable  feature  of  modern  pageant-giving 
has  been  the  bringing  together  of  all  classes  of 

20 1 


DRAMATIC   INSTINCT   IN   EDUCATION 

society.  In  the  pageant  of  Bury  St.  Edmunds, 
held  within  the  ruins  of  the  old  monastery,  no 
less  than  sixteen  clergymen  took  part,  and  the 
poorer  classes  were  as  fully  represented.  The 
squire  who  played  the  part  of  Richard  the  Lion- 
hearted  was  attended  by  a  coachman  in  the  role 
of  knight.  Under  the  direction  of  students  and 
archaeologists,  the  towns-people  made  all  the  cos- 
tumes and  properties;  and  it  was  their  boast 
that,  except  for  one  carpenter,  the  whole  pageant 
was  given  without  pay  for  services. 

It  adds  interest  to  the  pageant  when  the  actual 
descendants  of  historic  characters  take  part.  In 
one  given  at  Romsey  the  charcoal-burner  Purkis, 
who  brought  back  the  body  of  William  Rufus 
from  the  forest,  was  represented  by  a  lineal 
descendant. 

In  the  Oxford  pageant,  a  cordial  relation  was 
established  between  town  and  gown.  The  inci- 
dents were  chiefly  those  of  university  history 
and  were  given  on  the  playing-fields  of  Magda- 
len College,  forty- three  hundred  people  taking 
part.  Oxford  professors  wrote  the  pageant-book, 
and  Mr.  Beerbohm  Tree  acted.  The  pageant, 
lasting  six  days,  gave  scenes  from  the  time  of 
St.  Frideswide  (727  a.d.)  to  that  of  George  III. 
Ancient  chants  were  revived  and  many  striking 

202 


PAGEANTRY 

episodes  acted.  The  legend  of  Fair  Rosamond 
was  one;  the  funeral  of  Amy  Robsart  another; 
Robert,  Earl  of  Leicester,  headed  a  royal  pro- 
cession, and  Charles  I  made  his  entry  in  his 
barge  of  state.  One  of  the  most  effective  of  all 
was  a  masque  and  interlude  for  tiny  children, 
written  by  one  of  the  academic  body;  in  which, 
as  ants  and  bees  issuing  from  the  ^'Castle  of 
Industry,"  they  performed  a  graceful  ballet. 

In  America  pageants  have  lately  come  into 
the  national  and  civic  life.  Thus  far  they  have 
taken  on  a  much  more  varied  character  than  their 
English  prototypes,  yet  they  have  a  certain 
similarity.  Most  of  them  portray  the  history  of 
the  different  towns  and  cities  where  they  have 
been  acted.  Perhaps  a  description  of  the  one  at 
Hartford,  Connecticut,  though  it  was  not  on  so 
large  a  scale  as  those  of  Quebec  and  Philadelphia, 
will  give  a  fair  idea  of  the  English  historical  pag- 
eant adapted  to  conditions  here. 

The  Hartford  pageant  celebrated  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  new  stone  bridge  over  the  Connecti- 
cut, and  lasted  three  days.  It  began  by  pictur- 
ing the  early  settlement  in  America  of  the  Dutch 
traders  and  of  the  English.  Then  followed  the 
coming  of  the  little  colony  led  by  the  Reverend 
Thomas  Hooker  to  the  river,  and  the  founding 

203 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

of  the  city.  Processions  representing  soldiers, 
sailors,  and  citizens  of  colonial  times  were  made 
up  of  Trinity  College  students  and  of  the  military 
organizations  of  the  city  and  the  State.  Historic 
scenes  were  acted  upon  the  banks  of  the  river; 
where  also,  on  a  stage  of  ample  proportions,  was 
given  an  elaborately  planned  series  of  tableaux, 
the  prologue  to  which  was  written  by  a  resident 
college  professor  and  recited  by  one  of  the  local 
clergy  in  cap  and  gown.  An  Indian  camp  upon 
the  bank  added  picturesqueness  to  the  scene,  as 
the  smoke  of  the  camp-fires  rose  upward  through 
the  trees;  and  Indians  with  their  squaws  and 
children  appeared  among  wigwams,  or  glided 
across  the  river  in  canoes,  while  flocks  of  sheep 
and  droves  of  cattle  appeared  along  its  banks. 
The  Charter-Oak  incident  was  acted,  likewise 
the  execution  of  Nathan  Hale.  Brighter  pictures 
gave  a  glimpse  of  social  life.  There  was  a  ball  in 
honor  of  Lafayette;  a  minuet  was  danced  by 
twenty  couples,  and  the  distinguished  French- 
man was  shov/ered  with  roses.  The  pageant 
closed  with  the  signing  of  the  contract  for  the 
new  bridge,  thus  bringing  the  history  of  the  city 
up  to  date. 

In  July,  1909,  the  States  of  New  York  and 
Vermont  united  in  a  seven  days'  celebration  of 

204 


PAGEANTRY 

the  tercentenary  of  the  discovery  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  in  which  members  of  French,  English,  and 
American  organizations  participated.  Here  again 
was  seen  the  international  fraternity  of  feeling 
which  the  pageant  celebrations  have  called  forth 
in  England.  Representatives  of  these  countries, 
that  had  fought  with  each  other  for  possession 
of  the  lake,  met  officially  on  their  former  battle- 
ground to  honor  their  heroes.  Fifty  Mohawk 
braves  acted  the  foundation  of  the  great  Indian 
confederacy  by  Hiawatha;  and  their  ''Smoking 
the  Pipe  of  Peace,"  their  hunting  contests,  a  corn 
festival,  stag  and  canoe  races,  war-dances,  death- 
chants,  battle  sacrifices,  the  ''ceremony  of  adop- 
tion," and  the  representation  of  a  fortified  Indian 
village  revived  many  a  historic  scene. 

Some  of  the  smaller  towns  and  cities  have 
given  especially  effective  and  successful  pageants; 
and  the  possibilities  of  awakening  interest  and 
stimulating  cooperation  and  creative  effort  of 
the  entire  community  is,  of  course,  far  greater 
than  in  the  larger  places.  For  months  the  pageant 
is  an  intimate  part  of  the  life  of  the  people.  Farm- 
ers walk  miles  to  rehearse  their  few  lines ;  and, 
for  days  before  the  performance,  villagers  are 
seen  in  full  costume  passing  through  the  streets. 

Such  was  the  pageant  at  Deerfield,  Massa- 
.    205 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

chusetts.  Deerfield  preserves  in  remarkable  de- 
gree its  old  colonial  features.  Its  stage  was  a 
natural  amphitheater,  with  trees  and  bushes  for 
background  and  a  meadow  stretching  to  one  side. 
Beginning  with  English  scenes  of  1630,  rustic 
revels  and  Maypole  dancing,  the  lady  of  the 
manor  on  her  white  palfrey  and  a  group  of  sober 
Puritans  attending,  they  passed  to  typical  New 
England  scenes,  Indian  home  life,  and  the  pur- 
chasing of  land  from  the  red  men.  Through  star- 
light, an  ox  cart,  slowly  approaching,  brought  the 
first  settler  and  his  wife  to  the  locaHty.  The  bat- 
tle of  Bloody  Brook  was  suggested  by  the  sound 
of  rifle-shots  in  the  wood  hard  by.  Meeting-house 
and  school  scenes  and  a  village  tea-party  were 
among  the  quiet  and  peaceful  episodes,  while 
thrilling  ones  were  afforded  by  the  attack  on  the 
town  by  Indians  in  1704,  and  the  massacring 
and  carrying  away  of  some  of  the  inhabitants 
to  Canada.  The  call  to  arms  of  patriots  in  Revo- 
lutionary times  was  acted  in  a  final  scene,  and 
a  tableau  of  the  Grand  Army  saluting  the  flag 
given  at  the  close. 

In  some  of  the  towns,  the  summer  colony  of 
city  people  and  the  residents  have  united  in 
giving  a  pageant,  and  a  better  mutual  under- 
standing and  a  spirit  of  comradeship  have  re- 

206 


PAGEANTRY 

suited.  This  was  true  of  the  one  given  in  Bronx- 
ville,  New  York,  where  a  Kttle  group  of  well- 
known  people,  including  Tudor  Jenks,  Gouver- 
neur  Morris,  Violet  Oakley,  and  the  late  Richard 
Watson  Gilder,  wrote  words  and  music,  and  de- 
signed costumes  and  properties  for  the  produc- 
tion. Peterborough,  New  Hampshire,  and  its 
summer  colony  gave  a  musical  pageant  in  honor 
of  the  composer  MacDowell,  who  for  years  had 
made  the  place  his  summer  home.  MacDowell's 
own  music,  interpreted  by  dance  and  song,  was 
the  background  for  the  chief  events  of  Peter- 
borough's history.  The  festival  will  be  repeated 
from  time  to  time,  making  the  town  the  Mecca 
of  music-lovers. 

The  Hendrik  -  Hudson  festival  called  forth 
considerable  censure  from  public-minded  citi- 
zens. While  it  only  illustrated,  presumably,  the 
mistakes  of  smaller  undertakings,  the  extensive 
scale  on  which  it  was  carried  out  brought  them 
more  conspicuously  to  public  notice.  Notwith- 
standing the  immense  sums  spent  to  adorn  the 
city,  notwithstanding  its  naval  and  land  parades 
and  its  magnificent  show,  the  spirit  of  fellowship 
and  good  feeling  which  should  have  animated 
the  undertaking  was  lamentably  lacking.  The 
citizens  themselves  had  little  part  in  the  com- 

207 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

memoration.  Many  paid  professionals  were  em- 
ployed, but  little  local  talent,  and  the  masses 
were  made  to  feel  that  they  had  no  part.  Some 
of  the  best  reports  stigmatized  it  as  a  travesty 
upon  the  name  of  the  modern  ''historical"  pag- 
eant. 

Pageants  have  come  to  be  a  part  of  the  ''sane 
Fourth  of  July."  In  Springfield,  Massachusetts, 
where  the  first  for  this  purpose  was  given,  there 
was  a  civic  procession  in  which  the  citizens'  in- 
dustries were  represented  on  different  floats.  All 
the  population  entered  with  zest  into  the  under- 
taking and  aided  in  the  general  display,  to  the 
notable  increase  of  civic  pride. 

Pageants  have  been  given  indoors,  but  they 
have  not  differed  materially  from  those  already 
described.  They  have  been  used  for  propaganda. 
"The  World  in  Pageant,"  given  in  Boston,  in 
191 1,  illustrated  the  growth  of  foreign  missions. 
Of  like  sort  was  a  pageant  under  the  auspices 
of  the  "Boston  1915  Organization,"  which  pre- 
sented a  series  of  dramatic  scenes  showing  man's 
progress  from  cave  life  to  city  life,  and  suggesting 
the  world's  future  as  well  as  protraying  its  past. 

Others  have  been  given  for  definite  school  uses. 
Higher  institutions,  as  well  as  grammar  and 
primary  schools,  are  making  use  of  pageants. 

208 


PAGEANTRY 

Northwestern  University  has  represented  on  its 
campus,  in  poetic  and  dramatic  fashion,  six  pe- 
riods in  the  history  of  Illinois  in  as  many  scenes; 
Ripon,  Wisconsin,  a  small  college  town,  taking 
the  idea  from  the  Oxford  pageant,  portrayed 
both  local  and  university  history;  in  Knoxville, 
Tennessee,  high-school  and  university  students 
united  in  giving  a  pageant,  in  which  not  only  past 
history  was  revived  by  the  acting-out  of  the 
'^Winning  of  the  West,"  but  the  flora  and  fauna 
of  the  region,  together  with  its  agriculture,  fores- 
try, mineral  and  mining  resources,  were  shown. 

In  June,  1909,  Harvard  gave  Joan  of  Arc, 
which,  though  ostensibly  only  an  outdoor  play, 
deserves  mention  among  university  pageants; 
for,  though  there  was  more  speaking  than  is  usual 
in  the  pageant  proper,  in  grouping,  effective 
massing,  and  the  general  scale  on  which  it  was 
carried  out,  the  pageant  element  was  prominent. 
Like  the  Oxford  pageant,  it  was  semi-professional 
in  character;  for,  while  college  students  and  citi- 
zens in  large  numbers  made  up  troops  of  soldiers 
and  crowds  of  clergy,  peasantry,  and  noblemen, 
the  leading  role  was  played  by  Maude  Adams, 
and  the  color  effects  were  in  charge  of  John  W. 
Alexander.  Interest  in  history  other  than  our 
own  was  here  aroused;  and  the  international  good 

209 


r 


DRAMATIC   INSTINCT  IN   EDUCATION 

feeling,  so  frequently  called  out  by  English  and 
American  civic  pageants,  was  again  instanced  by 
the  gift  from  France  of  a  replica  of  the  original 
Oriflamme. 

Doubtless  the  tendency  of  outdoor  entertain- 
ments in  colleges  and  higher  schools  will  more 
and  more  drift  pageant-ward  as  its  picturesque 
and  educational  advantages  are  realized.  Normal 
schools  have  already  begun.  The  Boston  Normal 
School,  in  1908,  presented  the  whole  history  of 
education.  In  the  same  year  the  Brooklyn  Train- 
ing-School  for  Teachers  gave  an  indoor  pageant 
in  seventeen  scenes,  which  represented  education 
in  its  Oriental,  Classical,  Mediaeval,  Modern 
European,  and  American  types.  The  State  Nor- 
mal School  at  Clarion,  Pennsylvania,  gives  every 
year  at  commencement  a  pageant  in  which  each 
class  takes  part,  representing  not  only  American 
and  English  scenes,  but  those  of  Roman  history. 

In  some  of  the  training-schools  for  teachers, 
pageants  are  given  in  which  children  are  actors. 
As  the  result  of  a  study  of  the  Crusades,  a  play 
festival  was  held  in  the  training-school  at  New 
Paltz,  New  York,  in  June,  1907.  Children  pa- 
raded through  its  streets  in  costume,  and  took 
part  in  tableaux  in  the  City  Hall.  In  making  cos- 
tumes and  paraphernalia,  classwork  in  manual 

210 


PAGEANTRY 

training,  sewing,  art,  and  history,  had  all  been 
turned  to  account  during  the  weeks  of  prepara- 
tion. 

The  school  festival  is  closely  related  to  pag- 
eantry when  it  takes  the  form  of  a  procession,  as 
in  the  celebration  of  national  holidays,  Wash- 
ington's Birthday,  Lincoln  Day,  etc.,  when  his- 
torical scenes  and  episodes  are  reproduced.  In 
the  children's  village  of  the  Seybert  Institution, 
where  orphans  from  three  to  fifteen  years  of  age 
are  cared  for,  the  school  festival  has  been  put 
to  pedagogical  use  in  presenting  subjects  objec- 
tively to  children  who  have  little  power  to  visual- 
ize. On  Hallowe'en  they  present  great  historical 
characters  such  as  Columbus,  Hudson,  and  Ful- 
ton. The  story  of  Hiawatha  has  been  acted  by  a 
group  of  boys,  and  the  work  of  preparation  cor- 
related with  that  of  history  and  reading  in  the 
school. 

Settlements  everyw^here  are  organizing  pag- 
eants. One  given  in  Prospect  Park  by  two  hun- 
dred children  from  Brooklyn  settlements,  illus- 
trates their  possibilities  both  for  education  and 
amusement  in  the  case  of  little  people.  Episodes 
from  the  childhood  of  various  American  heroes, 
Lincoln,  Washington,  Franklin,  and  others,  were 
selected  for  portrayal,  and  scenes  from  our  early 

211 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

history,  such  as  Pocahontas  saving  the  life  of 
John  Smith,  the  capture  of  Daniel  Boone,  his 
trial,  sentence,  and  escape.  Indian  life  and 
dancing  were  reproduced,  and  various  planta- 
tion scenes,  the  latter  enabling  a  group  of  col- 
ored children  to  have  a  part.  As  shown  by  the 
children's  questions,  great  interest  was  aroused 
in  the  history  and  geography  of  the  places  pic- 
tured as  well  as  in  the  different  characters;  and 
qualities  contributing  to  the  greatness  of  the  men 
and  women  represented  were  emphasized  in  a  way 
to  leave  a  valuable  and  lasting  lesson.  As  in 
other  efforts  of  the  kind,  not  only  did  the  weeks 
of  preparation  serve  to  keep  children  occupied 
and  interested,  but  the  training  developed  valua- 
ble traits  and  habits  and  had  a  socializing  effect; 
even  a  gang  of  rowdies,  at  first  inclined  to  be 
rebellious,  became  obedient  and  helpful  in  pre- 
serving order  among  the  younger  children. 

But  enough  has  been  said,  doubtless,  to  indi- 
cate the  adaptations  of  which  the  pageant  ele- 
ment is  capable,  and  the  variety  of  pageant 
types  appearing  in  our  midst.  Their  influence 
does  not  differ  greatly  from  that  of  children's 
play-acting,  dancing,  or  reproduced  story-telling. 
But  it  appeals  to  a  greatly  larger  public.  The 
actual  moral  lessons,  also,  that  can  be  conveyed 

212 


PAGEANTRY 

are  manifold;  zeal,  enthusiasm,  self-sacrifice, 
and  a  spirit  of  cooperation  are  brought  out; 
narrow  prejudice  is  lessened,  a  love  of  research  is 
implanted,  and  a  capacity  for  usefulness  often- 
times discovered.  The  historic  sense  is  brought 
into  play;  costumes,  customs,  and  manners  of 
the  present  day  all  take  on  new  meaning,  interest, 
and  significance,  as  interpreted  in  the  light  of 
the  past;  and  associations  are  awakened  which 
give  to  familiar  and  commonplace  things  a  to- 
tally new  aspect.  Even  where  the  pageant,  as 
already  intimated,  has  not  always  been  carried 
out  on  an  ideal  basis,  it  inculcates  valuable  les- 
sons. But  its  function  of  simple  pleasure-giving 
and  adding  to  the  brightness  of  Hves  must  rank 
as  of  prime  importance.  The  world  loves  a  spec- 
tacle, and  Court,  Church,  and  State  have  recog- 
nized from  time  immemorial  its  power  to  awaken 
emotional  response.  In  these  democratic  days, 
the  pageant  fulfills  this  function  and  helps  to 
satisfy  the  inherent  craving  for  magnificence  and 
show. 

While  some  of  the  pageants  have  been  mere 
processions,  and  others,  in  which  acting  figured 
prominently,  have  been  only  a  succession  of  his- 
torical episodes,  many  have  essayed  well-con- 
structed drama.  According  to  some  critics,  it  is 

213 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

from  pageantry  of  the  last  sort  that  will  be  devel- 
oped a  truly  American  type  of  drama,  which  shall 
give  the  quality  of  our  civilization,  the  impulse 
of  the  people  toward  art,  and  its  expression.  If 
only  as  art  education  the  pageant  is  worthy  of  a 
place.  It  appeals  often  to  those  whom  beauty  in 
more  subtle  forms  fails  to  impress,  and,  because 
of  a  variety  of  elements  which  attract,  furnishes, 
all  unconsciously,  aesthetic  experience.  As  many 
of  the  pageants  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  planned 
by  great  artists,  so  the  skill  of  the  modern  artist 
is  called  into  requisition.  Already  improvement 
in  street  decoration  appears,  the  unified  scheme 
of  the  pageant  having  served  as  a  needed  lesson. 

In  civic  education,  pageantry  has  not  only 
proved  a  means  of  arousing  community  spirit, 
but  is  making  people  prouder  of  their  town  and 
its  history,  and  ambitious  to  live  up  to  the  stand- 
ards set  by  their  forefathers.  Patriotism  takes 
the  place  of  former  apathy  and  the  too-prevalent 
spirit  of  vainglory. 

Valuable  as  is  the  pageant  in  the  different  ways 
enumerated,  one  cannot  escape  the  impression 
that  in  its  recent  form,  that  of  the  English  his- 
torical civic  pageant,  it  is  probably  a  passing 
fashion.  Cities  emulate  one  another;  and  grad- 
ually efforts  become  less  spontaneous,  less  an 

214 


PAGEANTRY 

outgrowth  of  the  real  life  and  spirit  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  more  imposed  from  the  outside.  Even 
should  this  be  so,  the  truth  remains  that  it  has 
been  of  service  in  many  different  lines;  its  per- 
manent effect  may  possibly  be  foretold  by  the 
recently  changed  character  of  our  Fourth  of 
July  celebrations,  and  the  enlarged  scope  of  our 
school  festivals,  for  which  the  history  and  nat- 
ural resources  of  our  country  afford  abundant 
materials.  Particularly  as  carried  out  by  chil- 
dren, both  in  school  and  other  institutions,  is  the 
pageant  likely  to  retain  its  popularity,  since  it 
appeals  to  them  on  so  many  sides.  All  the  bene- 
fits of  the  large  civic  pageant  and  more  can  be 
brought  into  the  smaller  and  less  pretentious 
undertakings  of  school  and  settlement,  stimulat- 
ing the  sense  of  responsibihty,  group  spirit, 
enthusiasm,  and  ambition;  habits  of  attention, 
concentration,  and  punctuality  are  a  part  of  its 
discipline  and  training,  no  less  than  in  the  giving 
of  a  play.  It  has  the  advantage  of  being  easily 
shaped  to  the  needs  of  a  group,  and  for  historical 
events  and  anniversaries  it  is  better  than  any 
play.  Especially  is  it  suited  to  shy  and  awkward 
children,  since  it  requires  acting  of  a  more  rudi- 
mentary sort  than  does  the  regularly  staged 
performance.    It  tends  to  inspire  affection  and 

215 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

reverence  for  the  past.  For  children  who  get 
ceremonial  in  no  other  way,  not  even  in  the 
church,  its  appeal  is  often  powerful  and  lasting 
in  effect. 


XII 

GENERAL  SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

In  the  preceding  chapters  we  have  noted  the 
universality  of  the  dramatic  instinct  and  the 
diverse  forms  in  which  it  finds  its  normal  grati- 
fication.  We  have  suggested  also  the  psycho- 
logical bases  on  which  these  forms  rest,  that  we, 
may  test  thereby  the  worth  of  certain  recent, 
pedagogical  innovations,  derived,  as  has  been 
shown,  from  institutions  and  customs  that  sprang 
up  spontaneously  among  untutored  peoples  in 
ruder  ages.  Are  these  innovations  being  made 
in  the  wisest  and  best  way?    In  the  preceding 
mass  of  facts,  what  particular  message  is  there 
for  us?  Can  we  derive  therefrom  rules  for  culti- 
vating, without  overstimulating  or  perverting,  v 
the  dramatic  instinct,  and  thus  direct  it  to  fine    } 
issues?   How  are  we  to  recognize  and  utilize  its    | 
subtler  manifestations?  The  one  idea  of  drama- 
tization has  gripped  hard  the  pedagogic  world; 
some  of  the  fantastic  and  mistaken  results  have 
been  noted  in  passing;  are  there  other  means 
of  attaining  the  desired  ends? 

217 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

y  The  author  does  not  believe  it  possible  to  lay 
/down  positive  rules  for  the  training  of  the  dra- 
jmatic  instinct.  As  soon  as  it  becomes  stereotyped, 
J  the  spontaneity  and  enthusiasm  which  are  its 
very  life  are  lost.   But  there  are  certain  fun- 
damental principles  which,  once  mastered,  will 
enable  the  teacher  and  settlement  worker  to 
devise  and  apply  wisely  methods  of  his  own. 
These  principles  may  be  stated  as  follows:  — 

1.  The  school  training  of  the  dramatic  instinct 
differs  in  toto  from  professional  training. 

2.  The  form  of  gratification  of  the  dramatic 
,         instinct  must  be  suited  to  the  individual 

need. 

3.  The  material  at  hand  must  be  sifted. 

4.  The  practical  value  of  the  so-called  unprac- 
tical must  be  recognized. 

5.  The    training    must    be    continuous,    not 
spasmodic. 

6.  It  must  arouse  and  deepen  the  sense  of 
moral  values. 

f     Let  us  see  exactly  what  these  principles  mean. 

/First,  the  aim  of  professional  training  is  to  per- 

)  feet  an  art,  that  of  the  school,  club,  or  settlement; 

j  to  develop  the  individual.  The  one  strives  for 
J  the  finished  product;  for  the  other  the  product 
^  is  secondary,  almost  negligible.    The  effort  is,  or 

218 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

should  be,  to  give  new  concepts  and  ideals;  to 
free  the  imagination;  to  touch  the  feelings;  to 
awaken  eyes  and  ears  to  beauty;  to  cause  the 
child  to  reahze  and  express  his  individuality. 
When  in  his  games,  dancing,  and  acting  he  is 
coerced  rather  than  guided;  when  dramatic 
talent  rather  than  sensitiveness  to  dramatic 
appeal  is  encouraged ;  when  excitement  takes  the 
place  of  wholesome  stimulation,  the  relation  of 
dramatic  work  to  education  has  been  misunder- 
stood. 

The  second  principle  makes  an  enormous  de- 
mand upon  the  time  and  sympathies  of  the 
teacher,  no  less  than  that  he  shall  know  his  pupils 
in  their  homes  and  the  probable  influence  of  their 
environment  as  well  as  their  individual  tempera- 
ments, the  conditions  of  the  factories  and  sweat- 
shops in  which  those  reached  by  the  settlement 
are  earning  their  living.  Thus  only  can  the 
teacher  determine  if  they  need  active  stimulus 
or  passive  gratification.  It  is  a  continuation  of 
some  of  the  admirable  methods  of  the  kinder- 
garten, carried  into  higher  grades.  Furthermore 
there  must  be  discrimination  in  the  kind  of  grati- 
fication offered  to  groups.  Incidents  scattered 
through  the  foregoing  chapters  illustrate  these 
points.    For  the  young  people  and  children  for 

219 


s. 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

whom  Miss  Herts  labored,  the  play  was  un- 
doubtedly the  best;  it  brightened  the  existence 
and  enlivened  the  minds  of  workers  who  spent 
long  days  at  sewing-machines,  counters,  or 
benches,  and  gave  to  boys  and  girls,  used  only 
to  the  sordid  and  unlovely  sights  of  street  and 
tenement,  a  store  of  beautiful  thoughts  and  scenes 
,  on  which  imagination  might  safely  build.    By 

V  actively  taking  part  in  performances,  girls  not 

V  fitted  for  the  professional  stage  were  guided 
u  through  the  "stage-struck"  period,  and  boys 

had  an  opportunity  of  venting  their  "street- 
<  gang"  spirit  and  gratifying  their  love  of  admira- 
*♦  tion,  by  playing  daring  parts  to  audiences  far 
^  outnumbering  their  usual  neighborhood  follow- 
^  ing.    Or  story-telling  may  be  best,  if  children 
have  enough  visual  background  for  it;  or  folk- 
dancing  for  girls  who  lead  a  sedentary  life  and 
need  a  physical  stimulus,  in  which  they  may 
satisfy  also  the  social  instinct  and  gratify  the 
sensuous  side  of  their  nature  by  rhythmic  move- 
ment. For  those  whose  horizons  are  narrow  the 
moving  picture  is  admirable.  All  children  devise 
some  form  of  play;  but  the  plays  and  games  super- 
vised by  the  school  or  club-leader  offer  the  best 
means  for  developing  a  reverence  for  law  and 
order  and  awakening  a  response  to  social  and 

220 


i 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

moral  demands.  The  pageant  appeals  to  a  large 
group  whether  in  community  or  school,  serving 
the  same  purpose  as  the  play,  but  having  more 
intimate  local  or  national  interest. 

Third,  even  within  those  subjects  that  lend 
themselves  most  readily  to  dramatization,  some 
material  is  unfit.  Not  all  stories  or  historic 
happenings  are  suited  to  the  purpose.  Common 
sense,  judgment,  and  a  strong  regard  for  the 
moral  elevation  of  the  child  will  be  our  best 
guides  here. 

Fourth,   our  whole  educational   system  has 
been  tending  of  late  more  and  more  to  fit  the 
young  to  earn  a  good  living,  to  recognize  good 
sanitation,  to  judge  good  food,  to  prepare  good 
meals,  and  to  make  good  clothes.   All  this  does 
not  train  boys  and  girls  to  be  good  citizens.  The      % 
juvenile  courts  are  showing  the  faults  in  a  sys- 
tem that  "pins  its  faith  to  what  may  be  tabu- 
lated and  scaled."    The  emotional  nature,  the 
longing  for  self-expression,  are  neither  satisfied     ^>^ 
nor  directed.  It  is  difficult  for  the  city  school  to  w-^^ 
keep  pace  with  social  changes.    Formerly  the       * 
home  environment,  especially  in    country  dis- 
tricts, furnished  a  diversity  of  occupations  which 
stimulated  the  imagination  and  developed  the 
cultural  side.    Close  family  relations  seem  to  be 

221 


DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

passing  away.  However  much  we  may  regret  it, 
many  of  the  functions  which  once  belonged  to 
the  home  have  been  transferred  to  the  school, 
which  must  accept  its  added  responsibilities. 
But  the  few  ''unpractical  cultural  studies"  that 
might  replace  the  old  sources  of  inspiration  are 
now  either  discarded  or  grudgingly  allowed  an 
obscure  place  in  the  curriculum.  They  need  to 
be  restored,  that  we  may  ground  well  the  char- 
racter  of  the  child,  soften  his  nature,  energize 
him  to  noble  ends.  For  this  purpose  nothing  is 
better  than  a  study  of  noble  drama.  *'  Everyxij:^ 
Jias  the  criminals  it  deserves."  Schools  and  settle- 
ments must  see  to  it  that  the  number  be  lessened. 
Fifth,  that  the  training  of  the  dramatic  in- 
stinct be  continuous  requires  a  different  appeal 
at  each  stage  of  development.  The  ''play-act- 
ing" that  delights  the  child  would  be  torture 
to  the  self-conscious  age.  Here  comes  in  appro- 
priately training  in  criticism  and  technique, 
where  the  gratification  will  be  passive,  but  no 
time  will  be  lost  by  the  diversion  of  interest. 

Sixth,  children  may  acquire  bodily  grace;  they 
may  gain  on  the  mental  side  through  concentra- 
tion and  exercise  of  memory;  they  may  be  in- 
structed, entertained,  and  inspired  to  express 
themselves  —  even  to  turn  their  expressiveness 

222 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

to  creative  ends;  they  may  be  stirred  and  quick- 
ened emotionally;  yet,  if  they  have  not  acquired 
a  sense  of  values,  of  proportion,  much  of  the  train- 
ing goes  for  naught.  They  must  learn  to  distin- 
guish what  is  trifling  from  what  is  of  real  worth; 
that  *' looks  are  not  what  count";  that  virtue 
may  coexist  either  with  wealth  or  rank  or  with 
the  humblest  conditions  of  life;  and  that  these 
are  of  value  only  in  so  far  as  they  are  a  power 
for  doing  good;  that  even  a  desirable  thing  may 
be  bought  at  too  great  a  price.  Only  when  it 
gives  some  understanding  of  the  difference  be- 
tween what  is  fundamental  and  essential  and  the 
merely  superficial,  external,  and  accidental,  will 
the  training  come  fully  to  its  own. 

The  value  of  dramatization  as  a  tool  of  peda- 
gogy rests  on  its  power  of  holding  the  pupiFs 
interest  and  attention  without  his  voluntary  or 
conscious  effort.  It  conserves  energy.  But  it 
must  be  sparingly  used.  It  is  a  grave  mistake 
to  try  to  correlate  dramatics  with  every  subject. 
Learning  must  not  be  made  too  easy,  to  the 
weakening  of  the  mental  fiber.  The  close  applica- 
tion and  concentration  demanded  by  the<sterner 
studies  are  as  necessary  to  the  character  as  the 
cultivation  of   the   sensibilities.   Moreover~\the 

223 


u 

-DRAMATIC  INSTINCT  IN  EDUCATION 

alternation  of  play  and  work  is  far  more  pedagogi- 
cal than  a  continuity  of  either;  and  no  appeal 
to  the  dramatic  instinct  can  be  properly  stimu- 
lating when  it  becomes  a  commonplace. 

It  is  evident  that  the  attitude  of  the  teacher 
should  be  sympathetic  rather  than  dogmatic; 
also  the  work  of  developing  the  dramatic  instinct 
of  children  can  in  most  cases  only  be  successfully 
done  with  small  groups.  Even  if  this  should  ne- 
cessitate a  higher  percentage  of  teachers  to  pupils 
than  is  now  allowed,  and  of  teachers  specially 
trained  for  the  work,  we  are  sure  that  the  greater 
cost  of  education  will  be  more  than  compensated 
for  by  the  beneficial  results. 

Have  we  not  a  right  to  expect  to  see  its  effects 
in  the  next  generation  in  a  better  sense  of  law  and 
order,  a  finer,  more  disinterested  type  of  public 
service?  Surely  the  function  of  the  school  is  not 
only  to  utilize  the  dramatic  instinct  in  the  cur- 
riculum, but,  by  means  of  it,  to  train  the  faculty 
of  criticism  and  appreciation,  so  as  to  produce  a 
reaction  against  all  degenerate  tastes,  and  to  work 
toward  the  general  uplifting  of  public  morals. 


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INDEX 


Actors,  children  as,  73-90. 

Adams  Nervine  Asylum,  Ja- 
maica Plain,  145. 

Addams,  Jane,  26,  34. 

Arithmetic,  dramatic  teaching  of, 
52. 

Baker,  Professor  G.  P.,  56. 

Ballets,  116. 

Bavarian  Jubilee  Exhibition,  190. 

Ben  Greet  Company,  54,  66. 

Berhn,  theaters  in,  60,  62;  chil- 
dren's theater  in,  87,  88. 

Bible,  the,  dancing  referred  to  in, 
112. 

Bill-boards,  36. 

Blumner,  Dr.  Rudolf,  90;  quoted 
on  children  and  the  theater,  65. 

Boston,  dancing  in  schools  of,  121, 
122. 

Boy  Scouts,  102. 

Boys,  associations  for,  loi,  102. 

Boys'  Brigade,  the,  loi. 

Bremen,  classic  plays  given  in,  61. 

Brotherhood  of  David,  associa- 
tion for  boys,  lOi. 

Bryn  Mawr,  dramatic  study  at, 
56. 

Burr,  Professor,  142. 

Bury  St.  Edmunds  pageant,  202. 

CaUfornia,  University  of,  dra- 
matics at,  54,  56. 

Canton,  William,  cited,  100. 

Casparl,  and  Papa  Schmid,  189, 
190. 


Censoring  of  plays,  68,  69,  169- 

72. 
Cercle  Frangais  of  Harvard  Uni- 

sity,  influence  of,  in  theatricals, 

54- 

Champlain,  Lake,  pageant  of,  204, 
205. 

Chancellor,  W.  E.,  quoted  on 
play-acting,  50,  5i- 

Chicago,  theater-going  of  children 
in,  8,  9,  14-21,  26,  34;  dancing 
in  schools  of,  122. 

Children,  importance  of  emotional 
nature  of,  3,  4;  strength  of 
emotional  nature  of,  5 ;  theater- 
going of,  5-24;  the  class  of 
plays  attended  by,  9;  the  sort 
of  acts  that  appeal  to,  10-13; 
effect  of  theater-going  upon, 
14-16;  play-giving  by,  16-21; 
means  by  which  they  gain  en- 
trance to  theaters,  25,  26;  ef- 
fect of  different  plays  upon, 
31-33;  and  dramatic  work  in 
schools,  38-53;  dramatic  pro- 
visions for,  in  Germany,  60- 
65,  87,  88;  theaters  for,  73-90; 
as  actors,  73-90;  plays  of,  89; 
of  primitive  peoples,  games  of, 
92,  93;  of  civilized  peoples, 
games  of,  93-95;  dehnquent, 
play  for,  106, 107;  crime  among, 
lessened  by  playgrounds,  107; 
love  to  invent,  148,  149. 

Children's  Educational  Theater, 
New  York,  73-86. 


241 


INDEX 


Child-Study,  2,  3. 

China,  puppet  and  shadow  plays 
in,  178-80. 

Cicero,  91. 

Cinematograph.  See  Moving  pic- 
tures. 

Colleges,  dramatic  work  in,  53-59; 
women's,  dancing  in,  124-26. 

Commedia  dell'  Arte,  183,  184. 

Composition,  dramatic  teaching 
of,  52. 

Cornell  University,  dramatic 
study  at,  56. 

Crawford,  CaroUne,  120. 

Crime,  depicted  on  the  stage,  34; 
playgrounds  a  means  of  lessen- 
ing, 107;  and  moving-pictures, 
171-74. 

Dalcroze,  Jaques,  126. 

Dance-halls,  128,  129. 

Dance-songs,  1 13-15. 

Dancing,  110-34;  defined,  no; 
early  important  role  of,  no, 
III;  early  association  with  re- 
ligion, 1 1  i-i 3;  peasant  and  folk, 
113-15;  church,  115;  revival  of 
old  forms  of,  117,  118;  benefi- 
cial results  of,  1 17-19;  folk, 
criticism  of,  119,  120;  introduc- 
tion of,  in  public  schools,  121- 
23;  folk,  value  of,  123,  124;  in 
women's  colleges,  124-26;  em- 
ployment of,  by  social  settle- 
ments, 126,  127;  in  churches, 
127;  in  insane  asylums,  127; 
and  dance-halls,  128, 129;  stage, 
129;  interpretative,  new  school 
of,  129-34. 

Deerficld  pageant,  205,  206. 

Denison  House,  Boston,  73. 

Drama,  original  connection  with 


religion,  30;  moral  efifect  of,  for 
good  or  for  evil,  31-33;  to  be 
read  dramatically,  43 ;  study  of, 
in  colleges  and  universities,  55- 
59;  good,  constructive  efforts 
to  provide,  60-90;  efforts  of 
social  settlements  to  provide, 
70-73.  See  Plays. 

Drama  League  of  America,  68. 

Drama  League  of  New  York,  69. 

Dramatic  element  in  games,  94, 

95- 

Dramatic  entertainment,  psycho- 
logical aspects  of,  25-37. 

Dramatic  games,  of  primitive 
children,  92,  93;  of  civilized 
children,  93-95- 

Dramatic  instinct,  a  prime  force 
in  civihzation,  i ;  exploiting  of, 
2;  recent  efforts  to  develop  it 
in  children,  2,  4;  of  value  in 
awakening  right  sentiments  in 
children,  4;  a  demand  for  the 
expression  of  personality,  27; 
revealed  in  children's  games, 
92-95;  how  to  train,  317-24. 

Dramatic  work  in  schools  and 
colleges,  38-59- 

Dramatization,  in  primary  schools, 
38-42;  in  higher  grades,  42-53; 
has  gripped  hard  the  peda- 
gogic world,  217;  value  of,  as 
tool  of  pedagogy,  223. 

Dresden,  classic  plays  given  in,  61 . 

Driessen,  Dr.  Otto,  159. 

Duncan,  Isadora,  130-33. 

Education,  should  begin  with  di- 
rection of  children's  sports,  102. 

Educational  AUiance,  The,  74,  84. 

Eliot,  C.  W.,  on  emotional  na- 
ture of  children,  3,  4. 


242 


INDEX 


Elizabeth  Peabody  Settlement, 
Boston,  73. 

Ellis,  A.  Caswell,  quoted  on  play- 
acting, 49. 

Emotion,  ways  in  which  it  seeks 
outlet,  1,2. 

England,  dramatization  in  schools 
of,  51;  municipal  playgrounds 
in,  104;  dancing  in,  114.  ii5. 
117,  118;  puppet  show  in,  187, 
188. 

Fairy-tales,  dramatized,  63. 
Folk-dances,  113-15. 118-24, 127. 
Forbush,  Dr.,  loi. 
Foster,  Judge  W.  W.,  34- 
France,  dramatic  work  in  schools 

of,  49;   open  playgrounds  in, 

104;  dancing  in,  116;  puppet 

play  in,  185-87. 
Funerals,    children's   interest   in 

enacting,  99. 


Games,  of  primitive  peoples,  92, 

93;  of  civihzed  children,  93-95; 

dramatic  elements   in,  94,  95; 

progressive  courses  of,  95-97- 

See  Plays. 
Genee,  Adeline,  129. 
Geography,  dramatic  teaching  of, 

52. 
Germany,  theatricals  in,  60-65; 

direction  of  children's  sports  in, 

102;  peasant-dancing  in,  114; 

puppet  show  in,  188-91. 
Glenn,  Helen,  144. 
Goethe,  189. 
Gomme,  Mrs.,  98. 
Greece,  ancient,  dancing  in,  iii, 

112. 
Greenwich     House     Settlement, 

119. 


Guessing  games,  95- 
Guignol  Theater,  186. 

Hall,   G.   Stanley,   on  emotional 

nature  of  children,  3. 
Hamburg,  classic  plays  given  in, 

61. 
Hartford  pageant,  203,  204. 
Harvard  University,  dramatics  at, 

53.    54;    play -writing    at,    56; 

Joan  of  Arc  given  at,  209. 
Haydn,  Joseph,  189. 
Hendrik-Hudson  festival,  207. 
Henry    Street   Settlement,    New 

York,  73. 
Herts,  Minnie,  75. 
History,  dramatic  teaching  of,  52. 
Horace,  quoted,  177. 
Hull  House,  71,  72,  126,  127. 

Imagination,  100,  I49- 

Imitation,  children's  plays  in- 
volving, 95-97,  99,  loo- 

India,  dancing  in,  113. 

Interpretative  dancing,  129-34. 

Israels,  Mrs.  Charles,  128. 

Italy,  and  playgrounds,  104;  pup- 
pet play  in,  183-85. 

Jacob,  Dr.  George,  191. 
James,  WiUiam,  quoted,  95. 
Japan,  puppet  plays  in,  182. 
Japanese  story-telling,  135. 
Jenison,  Madge,  cited,  72. 
Juvenile  crime,  107. 
Juvenile   Protective   Association 

of  Chicago,  167,  169. 
Juvenile    Protective    League    of 

Chicago,  108. 


Katharsis,  2,  29. 
Kidd,  Dudley,  93. 
Knights  of   King  Arthur,   asso- 
ciation for  boys,  loi. 


243 


INDEX 


Laughter,  193,  194- 

Lee,  Joseph,  98. 

Letter- writing,  dramatic  teaching 
of,  52. 

Librarians,  143. 

Libraries,  142,  143. 

Licensers  of  plays,  35-37. 

Literature,  dramatic  teaching  of, 
52. 

"London  Bridge,"  dramatic  ele- 
ments in,  94. 

Lord  Mayor's  show,  199. 

Lowenfeld,  Raphael,  quoted  on 
children  and  the  theater,  63-65. 

MacDowell  Club  of  New  York, 
69. 

Macmillan,  Dr.  D.  P.,  25,  26. 

Manual  training,  dramatic  teach- 
ing of,  53- 

Mardi  Gras,  199. 

Marionette  plays,  176-95;  origin 
of,  176,  177;  in  various  coun- 
tries, 177-91;  value  of,  191-95- 

Masquerading,  of  primitive  peo- 
ples, 92. 

Masques,  198. 

Maypole  dance,  115,  120,  121. 

McClintock,  Mrs.  Porter  Lander, 
quoted,  140. 

McCracken,  Elizabeth,  her  Play 
mid  the  Gallery,  31.  32- 

Mimicrj^  92,  93. 

Minnesota,  University,  dramatic 
instruction  at,  56. 

Miracle  plays,  196,  197. 

Morris,  the,  114,  115. 

Moving  pictures,  6,  12,  13,  21, 
153-75;  phenomenal  develop- 
ment of,  153-56;  moral  quality 
of,  156-58,  168-74;  educational 
and  scientific  sides  of,  158;  fac- 


tors which  make  for  popularity 
of,  164,  165;  price  of,  164;  criti- 
cisms of,  165-67;  psychological 
effect  of,  174,  175. 

Munich,  municipal  theater  for 
children  in,  176;  Papa  Schmid's 
puppet  theater  in,  189. 

Municipal  playgrounds,  103, 104; 
dance-halls,  128,  129;  theater 
for  children,  176. 

Mystery  plays,  30,  115. 

National     Playground    Associa- 
tion, 103,  119. 
Nature  study,  dramatic  teaching 

of,  53- 

New  York  City,  School  Commit- 
tee of,  action  on  the  theater  in 
connection  with  schools,  70; 
dancing  in  schools  of,  123. 

Normal  course  in  play,  103. 

Nurses,  145. 

Ohio,  State  University  of,  play- 
giving  at,  54. 
Oxford  pageant,  202,  203. 

Pageant,  the  word,  197. 

Pageantry,  196-216;  origin  of, 
196;  occasions  of,  197-200; 
recent  revival  of,  200-10;  in 
schools,  210, 21 1 ;  in  settlements, 
211,  212;  function  of,  212-16. 

Palmer,  Miss  Luella,  98. 

Papa  Schmid,  189-92. 

Peasant  dances,  1 13-16. 

Peixotto,  Sidney  S.,  86. 

Pennsylvania,  University  of,  play- 
giving  at,  54. 

People's  Institute,  the,  65-68. 

Pierce  School,  Brookline,  Mass., 
dramatics  in,  50. 


244 


INDEX 


Plato,  91,  102. 

Play,  91-109;  definitions  and  end 
of,  91 ;  data  for  study  of,  91 ;  of 
primitive  peoples,  92, 93 ;  of  civ- 
ilized children,  93-95;  super- 
vision of,  105,  108;  sometimes 
need  of  fostering  spirit  of,  105; 
for  defectives  and  delinquent 
children,  106,  107.  See  Games. 

Play-giving,  by  children,  16-21, 
38 ;  in  schools,  38-53 ;  in  colleges 
and  universities,  53-59. 

Playgrounds,  municipal,  103, 104; 
means  of  lessening  crime,  107; 
and  story-telling,  145,  146. 

Plays,  the  sort  attended  by  chil- 
dren, 9 ;  as  taught  in  schools,  29 ; 
effect  of,  on  children,  31-33; 
licensing  of,  35-37;  progressive 
courses  of,  95-97 ;  German,  sort 
adapted  to  children,  62,  63; 
censoring  of,  by  organizations, 
68,  69;  and  social  settlements, 
70-73;  marionette  or  puppet, 
176-95;  shadow,  177-83;  sack, 
180;  miracle,  196,  197.  See 
Drama,  Games. 

Play-writing,  in  colleges  and  uni- 
versities. 56. 

Polichinelle,  184,  186. 

Providence,  R.  I.,  theater-going 
of  children  in,  8, 14-21 ;  dancing 
in  schools  of,  122. 

Psychological  aspects  of  dramatic 
entertainment,  25-37. 

Puffer,  J.  Adams,  26. 

Pulcinella,  184. 

Punch,  176,  184. 

Puppet  plays,  176-95.  See  Mari- 
onette plays. 

"Puss  in  the  Corner,"  dramatic 
elements  in,  94. 


Rehm,  Herr,  quoted,  180-82. 
Religion,  and  the  drama,  30;  early 
association    of    dancing    with, 

III-I3- 
Revels,  198. 
Rhythm,  no. 
Riis,  Jacob,  98. 
Romans,  dancing  among,  112. 
Russia,  peasant  dancing  in,  113. 

Sack  plays,  180. 

Sand,  George,  186. 

Saudeck,  Robert,  63. 

Scandinavia,  dance-songs  in,  113. 

Schools,  as  developers  of  dra- 
matic and  aesthetic  sense,  29; 
dramatic  work  in,  38-53;  in- 
troduction of  dancing  in,  121- 
23 ;  story-teUing  in,  138-41 ;  and 
puppet  plays,  194;  pageantry  in, 
210,  211;  the  function  of,  224. 

Seneca,  91. 

Seton,  Ernest  Thompson,  loi. 

Shadow  plays,  177-83. 

Sherborne  pageant,  200,  201 . 

Siam,  shadow  plays  in,  181,  182. 

Siegfried,  Herr  Pfarrer,  88. 

Signoret,  Henri,  186. 

Sleeping  Beauty,  dramatic  ele- 
ments in,  95. 

Smith,  Charles  Sprague,  65. 

Smith.  Lieutenant  W.  M.,  loi. 

Smith  College,  dramatics  at,  55. 

Social  settlements,  efforts  to  pro- 
vide good  plays,  70-73 ;  employ- 
ment of  dancing  by,  126,  127; 
story-teUing  in,  145;  use  of 
moving-pictures  in,  162;  and 
pageantry,  211,  212. 

Sompting  Elementary  School, 
Eng.,  play-acting  in,  51-53. 

Spain,  dancing  in,  113,  114. 


24s 


INDEX 


spectator,  the,  quoted,  187,  188. 

Stage-dancing,  129. 

Stock  companies,  6. 

Stories,  kinds  of,  137,  138. 

Story  Hour,  The,  146. 

Story-hours,  142-45. 

Story-Tellers'  League,  146. 

Story-telling,  as  part  of  therapy, 
144,  145;  in  settlements,  145; 
in  playground  movement,  145, 
146;  criticisms  of,  147-49;  2. 
special  gift,  149;  training  for, 
150;  suggestions  for,  150-52;  in 
past  times,  and  among  primi- 
tive peoples,  135-37;  attempt 
to  correlate,  with  school  stud- 
ies, 138,  139;  advantages  in, 
139-41;  in  churches,  141;  in 
boys'  clubs,  142;  in  libraries, 
142,  143;  as  a  profession,  143. 

Taste,  vitiating  of,  36,  37. 

Teachers,  attitude  toward  drama- 
tization and  play -giving  in 
schools,  41,  42,  44-47. 

Teachers'  associations,  in  Ger- 
many, 61 . 

Theaters,  means  by  which  chil- 
dren gain  entrance  to,  25,  26; 
meet  a  need,  27 ;  to  be  rendered 
educationally  effective,  27,  28; 
a  dangerous  force  when  left  to 
themselves,  29;  crime  depicted 
in,  34;  in  Germany,  60-65; 
subsidized,  60;  admission  to,  at 
reduced  rates,  60-62, 66, 67,  70; 
for  children,  73-90;  moving- 
pictures,  167-69;  municipal, 
for  children,  176. 

Theater-going,  of  children,  5-24; 
reasons  for  increase  in,  5-7; 
effect  of,  upon  children,  14-16; 


attitude  of  German  educators 
toward,  61. 

"Three  Dukes,"  dramatic  ele- 
ments in,  95. 

Tickets,  theater,  at  reduced  rates, 
60-62,  66,  67,  70. 

Tracey,  Susan,  145. 

Triumphs,  Roman,  197. 

Tufts  College,  dramatic  study  at, 
56. 

Twain,  Mark,  quoted,  79. 

Twentieth  Century  Club,  of  Bos- 
ton, 68,  69,  172. 

United  States,  dancing  in,  118- 

127. 
Universities,   dramatic  work  in, 

53-59;     pageantry    used    by, 

200,  209. 

Vaudeville  shows,  6. 

Vitiation  of  taste,  36,  37. 

Von  Klesheim,  Baron  Anton,  87. 

Wage-Earners'  Theater  Leagues, 
67,  68. 

Wellesley  College,  dramatics  at, 
55;  dancing  at,  124-26. 

Winchester  pageant,  201. 

\Vomen  theater-goers,  their  lik- 
ing for  the  lurid,  35. 

Wood  Craft  Indians,  association 
for  boys,  loi. 

Worcester,  Mass.,  theater-going 
of  children  in.  8;  paper  written 
by  school-girl  in,  12,  13. 

World  in  Pageant,  The,  208. 

Wundt,  Professor,  192. 

Wyche,  Mr.,  146. 

Yale  University,  play-giving  at, 

54. 


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